RWBY - Poison Promise
by SeerKing
Summary: [Set after Season 1] After the incident at the Vale Docks, an unknown assailant tries to strike down Ruby Rose with a powerful poison. As she struggles to survive, the questions appear...who is responsible? Why? And how did they breach Beacon's Security?
1. Poison Rose

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 1: Poison Rose**

 _Cafeteria, Beacon Academy_

"Cookies, cookies, cookies~!" Ruby Rose sang cheerfully as she skipped into the room. Dressed in her comfortable combat outfit of a black battle dress, black and red boots and a crimson cloak, she was a girl on a mission; to acquire her chosen culinary confection so she could endure studying with Weiss.

Thinking about her alabaster-haired partner made Ruby frown. Ever since she was little, she had had a kind of sixth sense when it came to people who needed help and, after getting to know Weiss over the last couple of months, every alarm bell that Ruby possessed was ringing urgently.

If the crimson-cloaked Huntress-in-Training had to pick a word to describe her partner, she would have to pick 'lonely' every time. Every so often, Weiss would look at the joking antics of her teammates and Ruby could catch a hint of wistful envy, right before the wall of harsh words and icy distaste slammed down.

Something that was a little more worrying was her seeming lack of knowledge of regular, everyday things that Ruby took for granted. Like one time last week, the day after the whole Blake-is-a-Faunus-and-ex-member-of-the-White-Fang incident, Team RWBY had gone to a fast food burger place in Vale. Weiss had looked confused and wondered aloud to her teammates as to why there was no cutlery.

After a moment of 'You are kidding, right?' from Yang, the two sisters had taken a few minutes to explain that yes, the food was eaten by hand and no, people would not think less of her for doing so.

The slight, but genuine, fear in the Schnee Heiress' eyes when she asked about the latter had made Ruby want to weep. She had known, vaguely, that Schwartz Schnee, Weiss' father, was an anti-Faunus bigot and a cold man, but seeing Weiss so scared of seeming unrefined shouted loudly of over-the-top discipline…and punishments.

Lost in thought, Ruby absently grabbed the last plate of cookies that was laid out on the counter. Everyone in Beacon knew to leave at least one plate left for her; otherwise, she'd try using her Semblance to go into Vale to get her cookie fix.

Her mind continued to worry about her partner as she headed towards the door. When Blake had been revealed as a cat Faunus and a former member of the paramilitary, pro-Faunus terrorist organisation The White Fang, it had also revealed the mental scars that Weiss bore. The Schnee Dust Corporation was infamous for their inhumane treatment of their Faunus labourers and had thus been a favourite target of the White Fang.

Weiss had lost people she had cared for. She hadn't stated it explicitly, but Ruby had seen the pain in her eyes as the Schnee Heiress had shouted at both Blake and her. This had explained the prickly and uncaring exterior she had developed; she deliberately kept people from getting close to her so she wouldn't be affected by anything that happened to them, so she never felt that excruciating pain ever again.

That Weiss had forgiven Blake for her past was a miracle; that she was doing her best to get over her brainwashed attitude towards the Faunus was an even bigger one. Regardless of all that, Ruby wanted to help Weiss. She didn't know why it was so important to her, but she wanted to, so she would.

"Eep!"

Ruby let out a yelp as someone collided with her. She of course dropped her plate of cookies, which shattered on the floor and scattered the sweets all over the place.

"My cookies!" the crimson-cloaked Huntress-in-Training wailed in dismay.

"I am _so_ sorry!" the boy who bumped into her apologised sincerely, "You alright?"

"I am, but my cookies…" Ruby replied mournfully, "That was the last plate too…"

"Cookies is it?" the boy, a dog Faunus with brown hair and floppy ears, asked with a raised eyebrow, "I have a packet of cookies in my bag here. Take them as an apology for ruining yours."

"Thanks!" Ruby squealed, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." the boy nodded, "I prefer savoury treats, myself. A friend gave me those and refused to take 'no' for an answer. You'd be doing me a favour if you take them off my hands. They'll go to waste otherwise."

"Well we can't have that." Ruby said with a smile, "I'll gladly accept them."

"Here you go then." the boy dug around in his backpack for a moment before bringing out a packet of cookies. They were just a regular mass produced packet, but to Ruby, some cookies were better than no cookies.

"Thanks again." Ruby said with a smile, "Oh…I'd better clean all this up…"

"My fault, my job." the Faunus disagreed, "You can leave it to me and go study."

This innocent sentence made Ruby freeze up and look at the clock. Oh no!

"I'm late!" she babbled, "Sorry, study session with my partner, gotta go!"

Ruby activated her Semblance and vanished, leaving a trail of rose petals leading out the door in her wake.

The Faunus smirked and sent a message with his scroll.

-{ _The package is delivered._ }-

 _Team RWBY Dorm Room_

"Grrrrr. Where IS that dunce?!" Weiss Schnee grumbled. The SDC Heiress glared at the door as she spoke as if the inoffensive wood had gravely offended her.

" _Chillax_ , Princess." Yang Xiao Long said in amusement. Ruby's blond half-sister was lying on her bed reading a magazine as she spoke, "Rubes'll be back soon. She promised you that she would study with you and she never breaks her promises."

This made Weiss' glare soften slightly. To the Schnee Family, giving one's word was just as binding as a written contract and must be kept at all costs. She had been taught that her entire life, but had discovered that most people didn't treat it as such, just the members of high-Atlesian society that the Schnee Family rubbed shoulders with most of the time, so it was refreshing to find someone who liked to keep promises out of principle aside from herself.

Still…

"…she could at least be on time!" she muttered.

"She might have gotten caught up talking to someone she knows." Blake Belladonna suggested, "Or maybe she spotted a rare weapon. You know how Ruby is with those."

The Faunus as reading a book on her bunk as she spoke, occasionally peeking at Weiss to make sure she was listening.

Weiss did have to admit that those were likely scenarios. Ruby was shy with people she didn't know and clung to those she did, talking to them often to make sure they knew she valued their company. Her fondness (read: obsession) with rare and esoteric weapons was also prominent. She had spent an hour examining Weiss and Blake's weapons once she got her hands on them. Her reaction to getting a chance to see Sun Wukong's 'gunchucks' had firmly entrenched 'weapons-maniac' in Weiss' mental personality file for the girl.

"Rubes always was more comfortable with weapons than people." Yang said sadly, putting her mag down to stare sightlessly at the ceiling, "She's like really, really shy until she gets to know someone. That's why I was a bit surprised when she tried to impress you during Initiation, Princess, especially considering the whole 'Crater Face' incident and everything."

Weiss flushed. "To be fair, that wasn't entirely Ruby's fault."

She had to wonder what she had been thinking, opening the case and shaking a loosened jar of Burn Dust at someone like it was talcum powder just to make a point? Really.

"Besides, klutziness to one side, Ruby is a far better partner than that idiot Jaune Arc would be." she added.

"Pyrrha would disagree." Blake commented with a smirk.

"She has, for some highly implausible reason, developed a crush the size of Mistral on him." Weiss replied with a dismissive gesture, "Granted, he has a large amount of Aura and his skill with his blade has improved…but his skill with Dust can't be called anything but a sin against humanity, even Ruby is better with it, and he has no clue as to what his Semblance is. Not to mention his persistence in continually asking me out despite my repeatedly telling him I have no interest in him."

"Man, that was just _Weiss_ cold." Yang grinned.

"Dammit all, Yang!" her two present teammates groaned as one.

Just then, the door opened to admit one Ruby Rose, with a packet of cookies in hand.

"And just _where_ have you been?!" Weiss barked irritably.

"Picking up these!" Ruby replied cheerfully, used to Weiss being irate with her by this time, "Sorry it took so long."

"It doesn't take three-quarters of an hour to pick up a single packet of cookies from the cafeteria!" Weiss berated her, "Honestly! Like I've said before, you may have a speed-type Semblance but you excel at wasting time!"

"I got knocked over!" Ruby pouted, "Then-"

"You got knocked over? Who did it?" Yang growled, her Mama Bear instincts towards her baby sister rising to the surface.

" _Yaaaaannnnggg_ , it was just an accident!" Ruby groaned, "The guy was a dog Faunus I'd never seen before! He apologised and gave me these cookies as an apology for running into me!"

If anything, rather than appeasing her, this bit of information, which translated to Yang as a boy hitting on her sweet and innocent baby sister, made the blond brawler's violet eyes change to burning crimson as she jumped down from her bed and put her shoes on.

"I'm off for a walk. I might even stop by the cafeteria." Yang growled as she stomped out the door.

"Blake…could you…?" Ruby asked wearily.

"On it." the cat Faunus replied as she tied her bow over her cat ears, put her shoes on and grabbed Gambol Shroud before taking after Yang to run interference and prevent her from killing the boy for the perceived sin of flirting with Yang Xiao Long's little sister.

"While Blake is taking care of Yang, _we_ need to start studying!" Weiss insisted after a moment.

"I _knowwwww_." Ruby pouted. She hated studying!

As the two settled down to study, Ruby grabbed one of the plastic plates they kept in the room and emptied her cookies onto it.

"Urgh…Professor Port's classes suck!" the younger girl groaned.

The assignment was to write an essay on how to eliminate an Elder King Taijitu solo…as Professor Port claimed to have done once in one of his many and varied tales from his youth.

"I still don't believe that he did that." Weiss scoffed, "It took all four of Team RWBY to beat that Ancient Nevermore and all four of Team JNPR to deal with an Ancient Death Stalker."

"I dunno, Weiss." Ruby said with a thoughtful look on her face, "At close range, Professor Port's Blunderaxe would be pretty effective, both the blunderbuss portion and the axe part. Combined with Aura-enhanced strength and whatever his Semblance is, it is feasible…theoretically."

It was at times like this, Weiss decided, that Ruby Rose showed a completely different side of herself. When it came to analyzing weapons or fighting the Grimm, the bubbly and hyperactive cookie-obsessed girl vanished and a Huntress shone through.

"…regardless of whether Professor Port did it or not, we have to write about how we would do it." Weiss stated firmly.

"I'd zoom in with my Semblance and use my Sweetheart to cut its heads off!" Ruby declared happily.

"…the way you talk about your High-Impact Sniper Rifle Scythe is as creepy as ever." Weiss deadpanned, "You wouldn't catch me talking about Myrtenaster like that."

"Crescent Rose is my baby! My child!" Ruby protested with a cute pout, "I started designing her as soon as I knew I could wield scythes! I built her and I raised her! She and I are one, like all good Hunters and Huntresses are with their weapons! If anything, the way you treat Myrtenaster is odd…to me anyway."

"' _A sword may be an extension of yourself but, in the end, it is merely a tool, to be used and discarded when it can be used no longer._ '" Weiss quoted, "My fencing instructor, the three-time world fencing champion Grau Trapp told me that. Are you saying you are right and he is wrong?"

"Was he ever a Huntsman?" Ruby asked.

This made Weiss hesitate. "…no." she admitted, "He doesn't even have an unlocked Aura."

"So he doesn't know what he's talking about, at least when it comes to fighting the Grimm." the black-haired girl pointed out triumphantly, "Sure, without taking Aura into consideration as a factor what he said is sorta right, if a bit cold, when it comes to normal fencing, but the Grimm are another thing altogether. I'd trust Uncle Qrow over your fencing master any day of the week."

With that, Ruby snagged a cookie from the plate and bit into it with a grin.

"I suppose." Weiss allowed. She had been told about Qrow Branwen by his nieces and even done some research on Qrow 'The Silent Reaper' herself. If anyone knew what he was talking about, it would be a professor at a Hunter's Academy like Signal, "Still, to return to our original topic, you have to write an essay, _not_ a single sentence."

"Weiss!" Ruby whined, "I know that! It's just…not easy to know how to start! You know how bad I am with essays!"

"Dunce." Weiss sighed, "Look, you start off like this…"

The partners once more settled down to work on their essays. Every so often, Ruby would scrunch her face up in thought at a particular paragraph before writing on. Whenever she did so, she'd treat herself to a cookie as a reward.

With her usual sterling efficiency, Weiss was finished before Ruby and settled back in her chair. She was waiting for the inevitable questions from Ruby to come. It was part of their usual pattern and Weiss had to confess that it was something she rather looked forward to.

It was…nice, for lack of a better term, to be depended upon, she supposed. Living with her family, everyone, from her father and sister, to her tutors made absolutely certain to impress upon her how weak/stupid/unskilled/inexperienced she was compared to them. At the White Castle, she was run ragged all day, every day and treated like an object, a mere thing with the label 'Heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation' attached to it.

For this reason, the way her team, Ruby especially, treated her was so special for her. With them, she wasn't 'Weiss Schnee of the SDC'; she was 'Weiss, Huntress-in-Training, Teammate and Partner'. It was a delight for Weiss, although she would rather fight an Ursa barehanded rather than admit it.

' _I guess…I should be nicer to them._ ' the Heiress thought guiltily. Her upbringing had made her abrupt and abrasive, which she had kept up out of habit. She was especially guilty of doing that to poor Ruby.

Weiss was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of heavy coughing from Ruby. It sounded wet and not very healthy at all.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked in concern. Her only answer was more coughing, "Ruby! Are you alright?!"

The younger girl hadn't coughed once since Weiss had met her. She had only sneezed because she accidentally inhaled Burn Dust, so what was going on? This was completely unlike the irrepressible ball of energy that was Ruby Rose.

"…I…" Ruby started to say, her voice muffled by her hand. Then, she was wracked by another bout of coughing that was worse than the last. When she remover her hand from her mouth, it was covered by shining red blood.

"Ruby!" Weiss squeaked in fright. She didn't have to be a doctor to tell that something was badly wrong with her partner when she coughed up blood!

"Weiss…I…." Ruby coughed again, "…I don't…feel so good…"

With that, Ruby collapsed on top of her essay, blood running from her mouth in a thin trickle, unconscious.

" **Ruby!** " the Heiress shrieked. Even as she shot to her feet and started to fret over her partner, her mind was already running through what she should do.

Reasserting a fragile hold over her actions, Weiss quickly, but gently picked up Ruby. Cradling her in her arms, the alabaster-haired girl fled the dorm room, headed for the infirmary.

Behind her, the last cookie lay innocently on the plate.

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 **Next Chapter: Poison Aura**

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	2. Poison Aura

**Author's Note: Yo. Chapter two here.**

 **I got the inspiration for this Fic when I read 'Bedside Manners' by Orion Matrix. That merely involved Ruby getting food poisoning. This is, as you have read, a bit more serious.**

 **Writing Yang is HARD! Seriously…**

 **This will be a short Fic by my standards, being no longer than ten chapters long. (hopefully).**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Please Read, Review and check out my other Fics!**

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 2: Poison Aura**

 _Corridor, Beacon Academy_

"Yang, is there really any need to charge around like this?" Blake asked her partner exasperatedly, "The boy was being nice to Ruby, but I doubt he was hitting on her."

"I just have to make it _clear_ to him that my baby sis is off limits." the blond brawler said as she stomped through the halls of Beacon Academy, "No one gets to date my baby sis without my permission."

The cat Faunus sighed as she dutifully jogged after Yang. Ruby _so_ owed her for this.

' _There again, she always buys me some tuna whenever I do her a favour, so that's pretty much taken care of._ ' she thought with a slight purr. Being a cat Faunus, she had inherited some irritating feline traits, such as feeling the urge to chase the dot created by a laser pointer and a high sensitivity to catnip.

Something she did not mind all that much was her love of fish, especially tuna. Just the scent of it was a heady rush for her, never mind tasting it. Back before her heritage had been revealed, Ruby had noticed she liked fish and had gotten her some very high-quality tuna that she had savoured for weeks.

-{BLEEK, BLEEK!}-

"Yang, your Scroll is going off." she called out.

Scowling, Yang opened it up and said, "What is it Weiss?"

-{ _Yang! Please! Get to the infirmary!_ }- The Schnee Heiress' voice, sounding desperate and scared, came over the device's speakers, -{ _It's Ruby! She's…!_ }-

A cold weight settled in Yang's stomach as she forced herself to ask, "Weiss! Calm down! What's wrong with Ruby?"

-{ _She's coughing up blood! I think those cookies might have been poisoned!_ }- Weiss replied rapidly, -{ _Get Blake to go back to our dorm and grab any cookies left on the plate on my desk and bring it here! Quickly, there might not be a lot of time!_ }-

' _No, this can't be happening! Not Ruby! Not my baby sis!_ ' was running through Yang's mind. She wrenched herself out of this loop when Weiss shouted at her through the Scroll.

-{ _YANG XIAO LONG! You do not have time to fall apart! Ruby, your little sister, needs you!_ }- the white-haired girl's voice was shaking with stress as she spoke.

"Ruby…needs me." Yang repeated slowly.

-{ _Yes! Now get over here! I may be her partner, but you have more legal authority as her next-of-kin to tell these people to hurry up and fix her!_ }-

"On it." the blond said before shutting the scroll. She turned to see Blake looking at her with wide eyes.

"Did you hear?" she asked.

"Yes. I'll grab those cookies and be with you ASAP." her partner said with a reassuring nod, "Now go to your sister."

Yang nodded back and charged off, her lavender eyes bleeding back to crimson as she allowed her emotions to surface. Her sister was in the infirmary and Weiss suspected it was poisoning. The blond brawler knew Weiss had almost been assassinated more than once by the White Fang, so she didn't doubt her teammate's assertion that it was poisoning.

' _When I get my hands on whoever is behind this…!_ ' she swore to herself. No one hurt those she loved and got away with it. Especially not the one person she had loved and protected most of her life. Whoever did this would BURN!

 _With Weiss_

 _Beacon Academy Infirmary_

Wringing her hands, the Schnee Heiress sat on a seat in the waiting room as the doctors worked on Ruby. From the sounds of it, they were giving her a stomach pump to remove anything she had eaten.

As soon as she had handed Ruby over, the only thing she had thought about was why it had happened. Why was Ruby coughing up blood? Everything had been exactly the same as any other study session she had had with the crimson-cloaked Huntress-in-Training…except from the different type of cookies.

It had taken a lot of shouting, threats and waving of Myrtenaster to convince the doctors to listen to her, but they had acted swiftly once she had convinced them of the cause of Ruby's symptoms. Weiss had then proceeded to call Yang and kick her other teammates into gear.

' _Oh god…what Yang must be feeling right now…!_ ' she shuddered. She was somewhat close to Winter, her elder sister, but Ruby and Yang were so close that they might as well be the mythical Jiān birds, although the analogy would be changed from husband and wife to sisters in their case. Still, she suspected, that, similar to the birds, Yang wouldn't want to survive if Ruby…

Weiss shook her head to drive that dark thought from her mind. Ruby Rose was far too stubborn to let a poison kill her.

"Weiss!" Yang shouted as she slammed through the doors, "Ruby? Where's my sister!?"

"They're pumping her stomach to remove anything in her stomach as we speak." Weiss replied quietly, "She's in the hands of the best doctors in Vale. Calm down and sit down."

"What happened?!" the distraught blond demanded as she sat opposite Weiss, her blood-red eyes boring into Weiss' own ice-blue orbs, "How did this happen?!"

"We were working on Professor Port's Essay." Weiss recited dully, "Then she started to cough badly. She coughed up blood a moment later and lost consciousness immediately thereafter. I then picked her up and ran here with her."

"Thank you." Yang whispered, "If she'd been studying alone and this happened…oh god!"

"Don't think about maybes and ifs; it'll drive you insane with fear and anger." Weiss said, "Focus on the here and now. Ruby may not be out of danger yet, but she is still alive."

"Right…." Yang closed her eyes tight and breathed in and out deeply for a moment. When she opened them again, they were back to their original lavender hue.

"Better." Weiss said with a nod, "Now where is Blake? We need that sample to determine what poison was used."

"Why? I'd think finding out who did it was most important." Yang said.

"The precise poison will tell us what kind of person we are dealing with." Weiss replied, "A common poison, which I doubt it is, will lead to someone without much financial support, whereas a rare poison will lead to someone of considerable influence."

"Why don't you think it's a common poison?" Yang asked.

"Because Ruby didn't say that the cookies smelled, looked or tasted any different from normal, which is a clue." Weiss explained, "Common poisons usually make anything they're put in smell or taste differently. The 'Fare Thee Well' poison, just for an example, smells like rotten apples, and the Troll poison tastes bitter. The rarer poisons are a great deal more subtle and are near to tasteless and scentless."

"You know a lot about this stuff." the brawler observed.

"This isn't the first time someone close to me has been poisoned." Weiss said coldly.

This put a dampener on the conversation. Silence reigned in the waiting room until Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch turned up.

"Miss Schnee." the coffee-addicted professor greeted her, "I will need to hear everything regarding what happened with Miss Rose."

So once again, Weiss repeated her tale, her heart twisting in agony as she remembered Ruby collapsing and the blood…oh, the _blood_. She made certain to include her theory about the rarity of the poison used, as well as her reasoning behind it.

"I see." Ozpin said faux-calmly, "Someone has decided to attack one of _my_ students. Inside _my_ school. This will _not_ be tolerated. Glynda, go and find out how Miss Rose is. I shall await Miss Belladonna's arrival here."

"Right." the blond woman nodded sharply before striding off, an angry set to her shoulders.

"Miss Xiao Long, how are you coping?" Ozpin asked.

"I'm…confused. And angry." Yang replied, "Ruby doesn't deserve this. Who did this? And why? If I get my hands on them-!"

She clenched her fists and her hair began to flame as Yang's temper began to rise again.

"Calmly does it, Miss Xiao Long." Ozpin said soothingly, "All of Beacon's resources will be put on this case and all efforts of the Hunters across Vale will be put in to catching the perpetrator once his or her identity is discovered."

Just then, Blake ran in with a single cookie in a sealed plastic bag in one hand. She handed it to Ozpin, who stared at it in disdain.

"To turn her favourite treat into a weapon to kill her…whoever did this must be highly cruel." he said, "Ah, Glynda. How is Miss Rose doing?"

The strict professor sighed. "She's stable, but whatever that poison is, it has rather viciously attacked her organs. What is worse is that her Aura doesn't seem to be much good."

"She's awake?" Ozpin asked with a frown.

"Yes sir, and in a lot of pain." Goodwitch replied with a grimace, "The doctors are insisting that she receive no visitors until they discover exactly how to treat her."

"This cookie is the last of the poisoned batch that Miss Rose ate." Ozpin handed the bag to her, "Have the toxicologist run through tests on all poisons to make sure we do not miss anything, but to pay especial care to run the rarer and highly illegal poison tests first."

Goodwitch scowled menacingly at the cookie as she gingerly took the bag from Ozpin and headed off to the doctors again.

"I shall have to contact Taiyang and Qrow about this." Ozpin sighed, "They are not going to be happy about this whatsoever."

"Dad'll probably try blowing up half of Vale to smoke out whoever did this." Yang said casually as she cracked her knuckles, "Might just help him out with that."

"I dare say you would like to." Ozpin said as he took a sip of his ever-present coffee cup, "But until further notice, Team RWBY is confined to the Academy and are hereby assigned the mission of guarding their team leader while she is convalescent. Whoever poisoned her may try again more directly now that she is physically vulnerable."

"Over my dead body!" Yang snarled, her eyes turning crimson again.

Blake and Weiss nodded in agreement.

"Very good. I'll arrange waivers to allow you to keep your weapons with you while inside the Infirmary." Ozpin said with a small smile, "Now, I must go. I have surveillance footage to review. When the doctors let you in to see her, please wish Miss Rose a speedy recover for me."

With a final nod, the Headmaster strode off, cane and cup in hand.

"Who would want Ruby dead?" Yang growled angrily once he was gone.

"I can suggest one name." Blake said with a frown, "Roman Torchwick."

"The guy that Ruby fought at 'From Dust 'till Dawn'?" Yang asked.

"Also the person that seemed to be giving orders to the White Fang at the Docks." Blake said quietly, "He is…a very cruel person and he is a criminal, so using poison wouldn't be a stretch for him to use."

"I'm gonna pound him if I get my hands on him." Yang gritted out in fury, "But for now, we should ask if we can at least see Ruby. We are her guards, after all."

It took Weiss another argument and violent gesticulation with Myrtenaster before the doctor in charge of Ruby let them see her.

Yang really wished the Schnee Heiress had failed.

Ruby was covered in tubes, wires and monitors. Yang could see several monitors that displayed her heart rate, Aura level, blood pressure and a few others that she didn't recognise. Her little sister, so full of life and energy, was only differentiated from a corpse by her breathing and occasional whimper of pain.

"Oh…sis!" Yang said hoarsely as she looked at what had become of her sister through the observation window, as far as the doctor would permit them to go.

"Little Red is tough, Yang." Blake said bracingly, "She'll survive."

"And we'll be here to make sure of it." Weiss said firmly, "Thankfully, there is only one way in and out of that room and there are no windows on the other three walls. Guarding her should be relatively simple, especially once they let one of us in there."

Weiss hadn't had any friends growing up. Now, she had three of them and she was damned if she was going to lose one while she stood vigil.

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 _Three Hours Later_

Ozpin walked back into the Infirmary, his eyes tired from examining security video footage for the mysterious dog Faunus that had infiltrated his school.

The background check on all prospective students was exceptionally thorough, meaning that Ozpin knew exactly how many Faunus attended his school at any given time, as well as what type of Faunus they were.

There had not been a dog Faunus at Beacon in over five years.

Spotting him, however, was not as easy as you might think. He had been very careful, Ozpin had to grant him that much. A hat was a common disguise for a Faunus who had ears that could be tucked up and in, but was impractical indoors, so he had worn a bandanna on his way in and out of the Academy, only taking it off before he entered and after he left the cafeteria.

Tracking him back through the Academy showed he had infiltrated from the direction of the Emerald Forest, which suggested that he had to have his Aura awoken in order to fight against the Grimm that dwelled within the forest.

' _I really have to get some proper surveillance on the edge of the Forests._ ' he thought with a mild scowl. Curse those bureaucratic idiots on the Council quibbling over every lien he spent.

With the poisoner a dead-end tracking wise, he had used facial recognition software to identify the young Faunus. He had dispatched Team CFVY to pick him up at his residence, although he doubted the man, a Ciel Broon by name, was even there. In his place, Ozpin would have run like Grimm were after him.

"Ozpin." Doctor Peach greeted him as he headed toward Ruby Rose's room, "We have a problem."

"Oh?"

"The poison used in those cookies…it isn't any common, uncommon or rare poison used in the Four Kingdoms since the Treaty of Vytal." she said nervously.

He took in a shocked breath at what she was implying. "You don't mean it's…?!"

"Yes…it's one of the eleven forbidden poisons…one of the Individual Eleven." she replied quietly, slipping him a piece of paper with the exact poison name on it.

"But who…?" he whispered, clutching his cane tightly, "The punishment for even _possessing_ one of those poisons is akin to murder! For _using_ them, especially **this** one, is…!"

Peach nodded grimly. "Whoever it is that organised this assassination attempt on Miss Rose has both deep pockets and high connections. Only the highest-ranking members of the Hunter Academies, Hunter Forces and the Atlesian Military should even have access to the formulae. The ingredients should have been destroyed a year after the treaty was signed as well."

"This situation is becoming increasingly complex…" Ozpin muttered, "Thank you for your diligence, doctor. This is now classified information and is to be redacted in Miss Rose's medical files under Code 11. Your silence on this matter is to commence after finishing this conversation and you are to destroy all samples and paperwork regarding your testing of that poison immediately. Have the antidote synthesised ASAP."

"Understood." Peach nodded, "How will you explain this to the girls?"

"They deserve to know the truth." Ozpin replied, "Besides, I think Miss Schnee will be able to aid us in our investigation."

Peach looked on silently as Ozpin walked off and sighed.

"Some days, it doesn't fucking pay to get out of bed." she muttered before heading off to follow the Headmaster's instructions.

"Professor?" Yang's wary voice came from the observation room of the room where Ruby was lying. It was one specially designed for this sort of situation, with it's own air filter separate power generator and even bullet-and-bomb-proof glass. One more thing that the Council had tried to dismiss as an unnecessary cost. More fool them.

"Miss Xiao Long." Ozpin greeted the blond brawler politely, waiting until her heard the telltale click of her shotgun-gauntlets Ember Celica shifting into their bracelet form before continuing, "How has Miss Rose been?"

He walked forward until the strained looking young woman was in sight. Internally he winced. He had known intellectually how close the sisters were, but seeing the usually cheerful and irrepressible Yang Xiao Long look so strained and stressed was still something of a shock.

"Ruby's been in and out of consciousness of the last few hours." Yang informed him, "They still aren't letting us in to see her and Weiss is getting antsy about that. I sent her and Blake off to get some food while I hold the fort."

Ozpin knew that an aggressor would need an army to get past the girl as she was right now, so her sister was in safe hands.

"I have an item to discuss with all of you, so I will await their return with you." he said pleasantly, "Oh, I have also cleared your homework for a while. All your teachers have expressed their hope that Miss Rose has a swift recovery."

"Wow…uh, thanks Professor." Yang said in shock.

"As surprising as it must seem for you, it is understood that in an unprecedented situation such as this that members of the afflicted team must not be distracted while protecting their teammate." Ozpin said with a grim smile, "I am also using this situation to push for some much needed improvements to the perimeter security that I have been trying to get for some time. Now that someone has exploited the holes in our security, it is time they were plugged to prevent this from happening again."

"Talk about closing the barn door after all the animals have escaped." Yang muttered darkly.

"I agree, but I will take what I can get." the man said before taking a sip of his coffee, "Ah, here are your teammates, back from the cafeteria."

Weiss and Blake were walking towards them, each holding a covered tray with food on it. They were both just as stressed looking as Yang was, and Ozpin once more swore that the ones who had shattered the illusion of safety at Beacon for these girls would pay dearly.

"Miss Schnee. Miss Belladonna." he greeted them, "I will not ask how you are doing as it is obvious you are both not doing well."

"We can't even go in and comfort Ruby." Weiss snarled, "Of course we aren't alright!"

"Sadly, that isn't going to be changing any time soon." Ozpin sighed, "We will continue this discussion once you have all eaten."

Eying him uncertainly, the three girls settled down to eat, with Yang keeping an eye on the way into the room just in case.

Ozpin walked over to the observation window and gazed at the daughter of one of the most memorable Huntresses he had ever had the pleasure to train. Summer Rose would doubtless not have wanted Ruby and Yang to walk in her footsteps, but nevertheless, she would be proud of both of her daughters for the kind and independent young women that they had become.

Doubtless Raven Branwen would also be proud of Yang. The woman may have left Taiyang not long after giving birth, but doubtless, she had kept track of her husband and daughter. He had no idea how she might have reacted to Taiyang marrying Summer; the relationship between the two female members of Qrow's team had been something of a mystery, even to him.

As Ruby once more whimpered in pain, Ozpin forced himself to just calmly sip his coffee, letting the hot, smooth and bitter liquid flow down his throat, easing his anxiety. The Rose and Xiao Long families had always been resilient. Ruby was a prize example of that. She would be fine…especially once the antidote was administered.

"Now then." he said once the three young women finished eating, "I am sorry to say that the poisoner got away, but I have sent Team CFVY to search his residence and acquire him for questioning should he prove foolish enough to linger there. On the bright side, I am pleased to say that the exact poison used on Miss Rose has been positively identified."

"What is it?" Weiss asked, "Nightshade's Breath? Scorpion's Sting?"

The fact that a girl of seventeen was well acquainted with the names of two of the most virulent poisons on Remnant was somewhat disturbing for him, but he ignored that in favour of answering.

"No, and I sadly wish it was either of those two." he replied, "I am issuing a Hunter's Order to you three right now. You are not to disclose the information I am about to tell you -to _anyone_ \- without my explicit verbal permission or else you _will_ be sent to prison until you are old and grey. Understood?"

The seriousness of the Headmaster's voice made the three stiffen in shock and surprise. What could necessitate this kind of order with that consequence for breaking it?

One by one, the three Huntresses-in-Training affirmed that they had heard and understood the order. Ozpin sighed.

"I truly wish that it wasn't necessary to issue such an order, but the stakes are higher than you know." he said, "Tell me, what do you three know of the Treaty of Vytal?"

"It was the treaty that signalled the end of the Great War of the Four Kingdoms." Weiss replied, "It lays out the founding of the various Hunter Academies and is known to be a masterwork of diplomacy."

"A textbook perfect answer." Ozpin nodded, "What isn't well known are the sub-sections dealing with restrictions on various weapons made during the Faunus War and the Great War itself. Some were obsolete and could be ignored, but the ones that needed the most regulation were the biological and chemical weapons. Gasses that could peel skin from flesh, poisons that could turn an immune system against itself, and much, much worse."

"Dust damn it all!" Weiss whispered.

"Quite. One thing that was made clear by the first Hunters and Huntresses was that no poison was to be allowed to exist that could affect, block or otherwise interfere with a person's Aura or Semblance." Ozpin continued, "There were not many to exist, but exist they did. Eleven deadly poisons and gasses that were specifically designed to harm or use a person's Aura or Semblance to attack and kill them. Imagine Miss Xiao Long here losing her immunity to fire and burning up whenever she used her Semblance. That is what just _one_ of those poisons could do."

"What monster would create an abomination like that?" Blake asked as she shivered at the possibility of someone using such a thing on her.

"Desperate times, I am afraid, are the birthplace of monsters." the Headmaster said wearily, "I do not excuse or condone what they did, but it was a different time. War is the greatest catalyst for innovation for both Humans and Faunus, but it also brings out the worst in the worst of people."

"So what was done about these poisons?" Yang asked.

"They were purged." Ozpin replied, "All reference to them in general military records were destroyed, all samples were cleansed and all people that knew anything about them and their use were made to sign binding contracts that forbid them from working with chemicals ever again. In a hidden section of the treaty, one only known to the highest ranked members of the Hunter Academies, Active Duty Hunter Forces and Atlesian Military, the names of the so-called 'Individual Eleven' poisons are recorded, as well as the last records of their use and application, as well as how to create antidotes for each and every one."

"Hardcore…" Yang muttered.

"Considering what they were, it fails to surprise me." Weiss stated.

"Professor…what was the poison used on Ruby?" Blake asked pointedly.

"Out of the Individual Eleven, there were two which were considered the very worst of all of them. One was called 'Brionac' and had the effect of turning a person's Semblance against the owner, bypassing the Aura. The other…the other is known as 'Mistilteinn' and is the worst of all. It is the one which Miss Rose has been poisoned with."

Yang swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat. Blake put a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked at Ozpin steadily. Weiss glare balefully at Ozpin, as if daring him to not continue.

"Mistilteinn is known as the giant killer. It was designed to slay those with tremendous amounts of Aura the more they used it." Ozpin said heavily, "It causes light damage to a few organs at first at first, which the person's Aura naturally tries to heal. Except, Mistilteinn absorbs the strength of the Aura and causes more damage, meaning more Aura is drawn to the injuries and the cycle continues until the person who was poisoned with it dies of the severe injuries done to all of their internal organs. It is…rarely pleasant."

"Sacred Dust!" Weiss whispered in horror.

"There is an antidote though, isn't there?" Blake asked in a forced calm voice. Yang didn't dare open her mouth, otherwise she thought she might start crying.

"There is an antidote, but it isn't as simple as just administering it to Miss Rose." Ozpin replied, "You see, what is troubling is that there are two key ingredients to creating Mistilteinn. One is a sample of the target's blood, as each dose of this particular poison is created with a specific person in mind, and the other is the extract of the extinct flower called Blumenkranz. While the antidote is important, we must eliminate the flower in order to prevent the poison from ever being created again."

Weiss had paled even more than normal when Ozpin mentioned the name of the flower. She actually looked physically ill.

"P-Professor…are you certain about the name of that flower." she asked shakily.

"Absolutely." Ozpin replied, "Do you know anything about this, Miss Schnee?"

"My father has a collection of rare and supposedly extinct flowers in a hidden greenhouse facility on the Mantle Continent." Weiss replied, looking sicker with every word she spoke, "The one he was always the most proud of was called that."

"I see…" Ozpin muttered, "How very like the Schnee to horde such things. Do you have the exact location?"

"Yes, but not the entry codes." Weiss replied, "Only the Head Gardener and my father have those. The place is protected by a battalion of Atlesian-130 Knights and a Spider Droid."

She tapped out a series of coordinates on her Scroll and sent them to Ozpin.

"My thanks. I'll send Glynda after them. She should prove equal to the task." Ozpin said with a small smile, "As to the antidote…for that, all three of you are necessary for that."

"What do we have to do?" Yang asked determinedly.

"As I mentioned before, each batch of Mistilteinn is keyed to a single person via blood." the Headmaster stated, "The antidote, once made, must first have either a single strong Aura person donate blood to be mixed in to it or multiple people donate blood to be mixed in to it. All of you are both strong and close to Ruby, so all of you adding your blood to the mix would be beneficial."

"I can handle it alone." Yang stated.

"Sadly no, you cannot." Ozpin replied firmly, "Half of your DNA is exactly the same as that of Miss Rose, thus the effect would be greatly diminished if it were just you alone. Adding in Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee, however, would make up for that."

"I'll do it." Weiss nodded, "She's my partner and I am not going to sit back and do nothing while she suffers."

"I'm in as well." Blake added.

"Excellent. I shall go and inform Doctor Peach of your decision." Ozpin said, "I will inform you of the next step once you have donated blood."

As he walked off, Weiss cradled her head in her hands.

"Weiss?" Blake asked gently, "What's wrong?"

"The only known remaining plant that is a key to making the foul poison that has laid my partner low is grown by my father, Blake." the Schnee Heiress said, her voice cracking with emotion, "Do you know what that means?"

"No…!" the cat Faunus breathed in horror as she realised what the white-haired girl meant.

"Yes." Weiss looked up, her eyes filled with tears that refused to fall, "Either the Head Gardener of the Schnee Family is in cahoots with the White Fang or whoever else orchestrated this…or my own father organised this assassination attempt of Ruby."

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 **Next Chapter: Poison Snow**

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	3. Poison Snow

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 3: Poison Snow**

 _With Ruby_

Being sick had always been one of Ruby Rose's least favourite pastimes. She _hated_ feeling weak, she _hated_ feeling as if her head was full of cotton and she _hated_ being so dependent on others. Up until now, having the flu or a summer cold was at the top of her top ten things that she dislikes most.

Being poisoned had since jumped past being sick to number one.

She hadn't been able to believe it when Doctor Peach had told her about it, but someone had poisoned her cookies!

"Can I see Yang? Or Weiss or Blake?" she had begged the doctor, only to be gently and kindly refused.

"At the moment, your Aura has been poisoned by the Mistilteinn poison." Peach told her, "As such, _any_ use of your aura could cause you greater harm. Even having familiar Aura's nearby could agitate your own, which is why only those who have absolute control of their Aura, such as I, are allowed to come in here. I'm sorry, but your team, especially your sister, would just cause you more harm than good at the moment."

Ruby wanted to weep in frustration. She hated being sick, because it made her needy. She _needed_ her sister to cover her in her familiar warmth and tell her everything would be alright. She _needed_ to know that Yang wouldn't abandon her.

Lying back in the bed she was now confined to, in the unflattering hospital gown that she had woken up in, and every part of her body, inside and out, aching, Ruby Rose had never felt so alone.

 _Outside the Room…_

"This sucks." Yang said with a really unhappy face as she saw Ruby's pained and distraught face through the window, which she had been told was one-way, "Ruby _hates_ being alone when she's unwell."

"In case you had forgotten, she isn't sick or unwell; she's been _poisoned_." Weiss said quietly. The Schnee Heiress was sitting on the far side of the room from Yang and Blake and had kept quiet since the revelation about the source of the poison used on Ruby.

"Weiss….what is the chance that your father had this done?" Blake asked abruptly.

The white-haired girl looked up sharply before sagging back down in thought.

"Honestly? I have no idea." she replied after a moment, "Father never does anything without having multiple, logical reasons for it. He shouldn't have any reason to know Ruby from a hole in the wall, except for the fact that she's my partner and teammate, thus he should have no reason to have her killed. The only explanation if he did do this is that he as unknown reasons for ordering it done that seems logical to him. I can't even begin to guess what they might be, however."

"If he did do this, I'll kill him." Yang growled.

"And I'll be at your side when you do it." Weiss said, shocking the other two, "Oh, don't give me that look, you two. I promised Ruby that I would be the best teammate and partner she could possibly hope for. Members of the Schnee family do not break a promise once it is given and this one means I must avenge any assaults on her if they are human or Faunus in origin. It's what any good teammate would do, right?"

"Weiss….we're talking about your own _father_ here." Blake said slowly.

"He is my father, the man who sired me. That is the extent of our father-daughter bond." Weiss replied icily, "An abandoned child who was raised by wolves has known more love than I have from him. The only reason he treats me or any other human better than the Faunus is that he sees humans as a superior race and I have to be in good condition for him to be able to marry me off to the son of one of his cronies. Were it not for that, I would wager that I would have been black and blue and relegated to being a slave in my own home in order to save money and to allow him to not have to have a cleaning staff."

Yang had known that relations between the Schnee Heiress and her father were strained, vaguely. The way she had stiffened up almost unperceivably at the mention of him had been a clue, as well as the way she never called him anything but the very formal 'father' epithet as opposed to 'dad', 'daddy' or some other pet name like Yang did with Taiyang.

This, however, was far beyond her suppositions. How could anyone say such cold and heartless things about their father and sound so…certain of it? Dysfunctional families were one thing, but this? It more sounded like the Schnee were a family in name only, having broken apart long ago.

"Thanks Weiss." Yang said seriously, "Whether you get on with him or not, saying you'll help put the one who did this to Rubes six feet under, even if it's your father…well, let's just say it's unexpected, if reassuring."

"No thanks are needed." Weiss replied, "The thing that worries me though is the possibility that it might be the Head Gardener that had something to do with this and not my father. If he's in the pay of criminals like Torchwick, who knows how many other members of the staff of White Castle are as well? Winter could be in danger."

"Your older sister?" Blake asked, "Isn't she a fencing master as well?"

"Meaningless if they attack her when she's separated from her weapon…like when she's in the shower." Weiss replied with a frown, "That's the greatest danger of being infiltrated by enemy forces, being separated from your weapons and struck at when you are at your most vulnerable. Although she's rarely at home these days thanks to her position in the Atlesian Military."

"Doesn't the Schnee Family vet their employees? Check their backgrounds and the like?" Blake asked with a frown.

"We do, but Torchwick…isn't a normal criminal." Weiss's frown deepened as she spoke, "An anti-Faunus bigot who is working with a pro-Faunus terrorist organisation? Either he has a complex game planned or…"

"Or?" Yang pressed.

"Or he's working for someone." the white-haired girl said, "Someone who has a plan in mind for all that Dust that got stolen. I doubt that Torchwick or the White Fang could dream of a use for so much Dust."

"The amount of Dust stolen did go up in the couple of months before I left the White Fang." Blake muttered uncomfortably.

"Didn't they say what they were doing with it?" Weiss asked intently.

"No. In the White Fang, orders are left by superiors that you have to carry out." Blake replied, "Asking anything about the mission and you get in trouble. You carried the mission out, dropped of the goods where you were told and moved on to either the next mission or a rest area."

"Eeesh, talk about controlling." Yang commented, "That's why I wanna be a Huntress. You only go on jobs that you've been briefed on fully and even then only if you wanna go on them. Or they're absolutely necessary to protect people."

"I agree." Blake said with a nod, "Towards the end…it was cold in the White Fang. Lonely. Leaving them and coming to Beacon was my best idea and I'm glad I did it."

"As am I." Weiss admitted begrudgingly before she looked into the room Ruby was in and scowled. "How long did Doctor Peach say it would take to synthesise the antidote?"

"At least a day." Blake replied, "It's a delicate process apparently, and she has little experience in making this serum."

"Tch. Hurry up and wait." Yang grouched.

 _Headmaster's Office_

Ozpin stared at the screen on his desk and sighed. This was a phone call he had to make, but he was not looking forward to it. Taiyang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen were generally speaking very laid back people…until someone hurt their family.

 _Then_ they became twin demons who would do anything to avenge harm done to their loved ones. It was painful to say, but Summer Rose and Raven Branwen had been cut from much the same cloth. They may not have _liked_ one another, but they loved each other like sisters, as one idiot had found out when Raven had beaten him up for deliberately breaking Summer's arm in a sparring match during their third year at Beacon.

The only time Yang had been beaten up before she had her Aura awoken, Summer and Taiyang had had a _word_ with the boy responsible and he had dropped out of Signal Academy faster than you could say 'Nevermore'.

This tendency to overreact had only gotten worse once Summer died and Taiyang crawled out of the bottles of alcohol he had drowned his sorrows in. Yang, and Ruby especially, were zealously protected as much as they would allow. It was mostly Ruby who was protected, as Yang was… _vocal_ about being able to protect herself.

Well, Ozpin mused with a chuckle, Ruby had protested as well, but Qrow had told him that when Ruby had protested, she looked more cute than determined so she never got anywhere with her protests.

Still, this made it very…stressful for Ozpin. He had to tell them both that the baby of their family had been poisoned and that the only idea they had as to the perpetrator was that they _might_ be connected to the Schnee Dust Corporation and Roman Torchwick.

Yes, the chaos those two would cause if not reined in would be…substantially sub-optimal. This meant he would have to be very, very careful with how he did this. Possibly making them take part in the missions he had in mind…hmmm…

"Might as well get it over and done with." he sighed before he opened a connection. A few moments later, two faces appeared on the screen. One was a shorthaired male version of Yang with a face more accustomed to smiling than frowning. The other had roughly cut and messy black hair and red eyes.

"Ozzy, what's the deal?" Qrow asked suspiciously, "Why'd you need to talk to both Taiyang and me at the same time?"

"Must you call me that?" Ozpin sighed.

"Yes. Now answer the damn question." the Signal Professor snapped.

"It's…about Ruby Rose." the headmaster said with a sigh, "She's been poisoned…with one of the Individual Eleven."

"WHAT!?" Taiyang roared. Qrow just glared at Ozpin.

"She's been poisoned by the drug known as Mistilteinn." Ozpin informed them, "She's isolated so no one's Aura can aggravate her own and Doctor Peach is synthesising the antidote as we speak. Her team have all agreed to donate some blood to aid in the creation of the antidote's final form. She is going to be fine."

"Any idea who did this?" Qrow asked.

"The actual poisoner was a dog Faunus. He deliberately knocked her over in the cafeteria and made her spill the last plate of cookies, then gave her a packet of poisoned cookies." Ozpin replied, "He exploited several weaknesses in the Academy's security that I am in the process of plugging as we speak. I have dispatched the most experienced third year team to retrieve him, but thus far it seems he has flown the coop."

"And the puppet master?" Qrow pressed.

"Miss Schnee informed me that the plant used as a key ingredient in Mistilteinn is grown in the Schnee Family's private and hidden greenhouse facility." Ozpin replied, "I have… _overheard_ Team RWBY speculating about who was responsible…"

He proceeded to tell the two men Weiss' opinions about her father and the likelihood that either Swartz Schnee had had something to do with it or Torchwick's men had infiltrated his household.

"If that bastard had something to do with Ruby getting poisoned..!" Taiyang ground out through clenched teeth.

"You'll have to get in line behind your eldest daughter and her other two teammates." Ozpin replied dryly, "They have a much closer bond than you would expect from First years. Even Schwartz's daughter is up in arms about this."

"This is interestin' and all, but why call us both." Qrow asked bluntly, "You only needed to inform Taiyang."

"True enough." the headmaster acknowledged, "My reasoning has multiple layers. First, it was to stop Taiyang from tearing off halfway through my explanation to go and attack Schwartz. Secondly, to keep you in the loop so you don't complain at me for months afterwards Qrow. Thirdly…I need both of you to do something for me."

"What?" Qrow pressed.

"Taiyang, I'm sending Glynda to the coordinates Miss Schnee provided me in order to destroy the last of the Blumenkranz flower, as well as any other ingredients to the Individual Eleven poisons. I'd like you to accompany her, as it is likely that Schwarz's security droids will not be willing to allow you access." Ozpin said firmly, "You have carte blanche to do what is necessary to ensure the success of the mission."

Taiyang gave a feral smirk and nodded.

"Qrow, Miss Rose is highly distressed and keeps asking for her sister." Ozpin turned to the image of the other man, "I need you to come here and reassure her. Only those who can suppress their Aura fully can be allowed near her. In this school, only Glynda, Doctor Peach and myself have that ability. I think having you with her would be a great comfort to her."

Ruby's teacher in the use of a scythe in combat scowled, but sighed. "As long as you send me after the one who did this, fine."

"That can be arranged." Ozpin nodded, "A Bullhead will pick you up in half an hour. Be ready at Signal by then, both of you."

"Got it." Qrow nodded, "You look after my nieces Ozzy…or there will be trouble."

With that, the screen hung blanked out as Qrow cut the connection.

"Sir?" Glynda asked as she entered his office, "Are you OK?"

"Fine. Just wondering how I could let Summer's daughter get attacked under my own roof." Ozpin sighed, "I'm starting to get old, Glynda."

"You have tried to plug those security holes before, only to get rebuffed by the Council." Glynda said soothingly, "Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long are hardly likely to blame you…I doubt Summer would either, especially now you're planning on fixing it so this can't happen again."

Ozpin nodded and refilled his cup with more coffee. "You and Taiyang will be dispatched to eliminate the Blumenkranz plant in the Schnee Family Private Greenhouse, as well as any other ingredients of the Individual Eleven that you find within. Try and stop Tai from destroying the entire complex out of spite."

" _Try_ being the operative word there." the blond muttered. Xiao Longs were infamous for being hard to control and a father with an axe -or in Taiyang's case, an explosive hammer- to grind is hard enough to mind. Both in the same package? A recipe for trouble.

"I have confidence that you will acquit yourself admirably, Glynda." Ozpin said calmly, "Don't worry about James and Schwartz. I'll deal with them if they raise a fuss."

"I'm certain you will." Glynda replied wryly. Ozpin hadn't been this angry since Summer Rose had died. If James Ironwood had as good a memory as he boasted, he'd take one look at Ozpin and decide discretion was the better part of valour.

As for Schwartz Schnee…he would learn not to cross Headmaster Ozpin when his dander was up.

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 **Next Chapter: Poison Shadow**

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	4. Poison Shadow

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 4: Poison Shadow**

 _Airdock, Signal Academy, Isle of Patch_

Taiyang Xiao Long stormed across the concrete landing pad towards the Bullhead, his explosive hammer strapped to his back and his eyes blazing with anger. Half an hour hadn't been nearly long enough for him to calm down after hearing that some, soon-to-be-dead, person had _poisoned_ his youngest daughter.

With the ease of long practice, Taiyang clamped down on the flames of his Semblance and snuffed them out…for now.

The Semblance of the Xiao Long Family wasn't hereditary like the Schnee Family's Glyph Semblance was, but it usually had something to do with flames or energy. Yang's Semblance, the Phoenix, was a classic example of this, making Yang become stronger, the more energy she receives…in other words hit her and she becomes more powerful with each hit.

The flames that sprung up whenever she used said Semblance helped to mask the true nature of her Semblance as well, which was all to the good.

Ruby's Semblance, the Speed Demon, was actually a very complex Semblance if you looked at it deeply enough. Whenever she used it, it did multiple things simultaneously. It increased the durability of her body, gave her a mental speed boost to be able to see thing in slow motion, parted the air in front of her to further increase her speed and increased the amount of oxygen her lungs took in with each breath.

Summer had something to do with how complex Ruby's Semblance was, he knew. His own Semblance, the Ifreet, was very simple. The angrier he became, the hotter his flames burned and the more he could use. After hearing about Summer's death, he had gone Grimm hunting in a nearby forest and burned part of it to the ground with white-hot flames.

"Tai, calm down." Qrow said from next to him…which he hadn't been just a second ago. Damn his sound-muffling Semblance!

"Damn your Stalking semblance." he muttered.

"It isn't called that." Qrow protested mildly, "It's called Presence Assassination."

The ability to completely conceal and suppress all traces of the user's own presence from scent, sound and smell to the nullification of sixth sense perception. That was Qrow's Semblance, Presence Assassination.

This, combined with his sword-scythe, had earned him the moniker 'Qrow the Silent Reaper'.

"Speak up Tai. You only ever curse my Semblance when you're about to start brooding over something." Taiyang's brother-in-law said sternly as they headed toward the Bullhead that would carry them to Beacon.

"Whoever poisoned Ruby has deep pockets and far reaching influence, Qrow." Tai replied tersely, "They'd have to either bribe or blackmail either a councilman or one of the high-ranking Hunters in order to even find out about the Individual Eleven, let alone the ingredients, preparation method and processing method. There are three councilmen or councilwomen per kingdom and less than twenty Hunters and Huntresses in all of Remnant, the Hunter Heads aside, that could provide that information."

"You, me, Ozpin, Glynda, Bartholomew Oobleck, Peter Port…" Qrow counted off, "That's all of us in Vale, and they wouldn't be bribed or blackmailed. Mistral has only one Huntress that knows and she is a solo Huntress. No one knows where she'll be from day to day, so she's out."

"Vacuo has three Hunters, but they are very much anti-terrorist and anti-criminal, so they aren't likely." Tai added, "That leaves the remaining ten…in Atlas."

"Ironwood and his damn military." Qrow groused.

The Atlesian Military was the largest out of all of the four kingdoms, especially the infamous Atlesian Air Fleet. What many weren't aware of was their habit of pressuring graduates of their Hunter Academy to join the military as members of the Special Forces.

General James Ironwood was simultaneously the Commanding Officer of the Atlesian Military and the Head of the Hunters in Atlas, an unprecedented situation that allowed him to impress his own views upon both the military and the Hunters.

"All ten are serving officers in both the Atlesian Military and Hunters." Taiyang confirmed as they got on the Bullhead and strapped in to the seats, "Ironwood is an insufferable prick that assumes anyone in his military can be trusted absolutely, but he does adhere to the rules regarding who can know about the Blacklist section of the Treaty of Vytal. It just so happens that one Winter Schnee is a high-ranking officer in the Special Forces AND cleared for the Blacklist."

"She's the leak?" Qrow asked.

"You know what the Atlesian Noble Families are like, Qrow. ' _Family first, second and third_ ' and all that." Tai snorted, "If ol' Schwarz ordered her to hand over the details of the Individual Eleven, she would do it."

"I know her though. She's a prim and proper little so-and-so, always insisting on doing things by the book." Qrow demurred, "I doubt she did it, especially since Ruby's her little sister's partner. Too much risk of Ruby offering the kid a cookie as she usually does when she's studying."

Tai grimaced but nodded. Ruby did do that, unless it was something she wasn't particularly good at, like Port's mammoth-sized essays.

"Let Ozzy take care of investigating the perpetrator, Tai." Qrow advised, "Just focus on helping Goodwitch trash that greenhouse that has the ingredient to Mistilteinn in it. Knowing Schwarz, he will blow his top, but knowing _Goodwitch and Ozzy_ , they'll have something planned for that."

"Nothin' like tweaking Schwarz's nose." Taiyang chuckled, "Just like old times."

 _Later_

 _Isolation Room Entrance, Beacon Academy_

"Hold it!" Yang barked as JNPR approached, "Put your weapons down over there!"

She jerked her head at a table set up for that purpose on the side of the room farthest away from the window.

"Magnhild doesn't leave me!" Nora shouted, clutching her war hammer/grenade launcher protectively, "Anyone tries and I'll break their legs!"

"Nora…do it." Ren sighed, "If you don't, _Yang_ will break _your_ legs."

The orangette blinked, looked at the red-eyed brawler with her shotgun gauntlets deployed and wilted slightly.

"OK." she said in a subdued manner.

Pyrrha Nikos, the three-time winner of Mistral's tournaments, obediently placed Miló and Akoúo̱, her javelin/gladius/rifle and shield on the table, followed by Jaune Arc placing Crocea Mors, his sword and sheath/shield next to it. Ren looked at Nora pointedly; making the girl sulkily put her weapon, in its grenade launcher form, on the table just as Ren placed his twin-SMG weapons StormFlower there too.

"Sorry about this." Yang said gruffly as she retracted Ember Celica, "It isn't that I don't trust you, but…it's my baby sis' safety we're talking about here."

"No apologies necessary." Pyrrha shook her head, "if this had happened to one of my team, I would doubtless act the same."

"Thanks Pyrrha." the blond said with a nod, "We aren't allowed in with her because she has to remain as still as possible, and we'd just overexcite her. Damn poison."

This was the cover story to conceal the fact that Ruby was poisoned by Mistilteinn. There was an old poison known as the Curse of Ages, which damaged the target's body with even the slightest movement, so it was a good reason to keep everyone out of Ruby's room, otherwise she'd damage herself trying to be cheerful.

In a way, it was true. Aura was a part of the body and Ruby, with such a massive reservoir of Aura and so young, had no way of fully controlling her Aura, so she was being damaged with every passing minute.

"Poisoners…" the disgust in Pyrrha's voice was obvious, "Cowards, the lot of them. If you need my aid to deliver the one responsible for this to justice, my blade is yours."

"Mine too." Jaune nodded seriously.

"We'll break their legs!" Nora declared.

Ren didn't say anything; he just nodded in agreement with his teammates.

"Thanks." Yang nodded, "We think we know who's behind it. A guy called Roman Torchwick, the guy Rubes stopped robbing 'From Dust Till Dawn' to get into Beacon. Weiss and Blake're trying to persuade Ozpin to give them Torchwick's file, but he's delaying."

Yang led JNPR over to the observation window and Pyrrha gasped in shock. Ruby was still wrapped up in wires and stuff, so she supposed that it was quite shocking to see for the first time.

"It looks worse than it actually is." the blond said with a weak smile.

"Why hasn't her Aura started to heal her?" Ren asked in a clipped tone.

"Curse of Ages is an Aura-resistant poison." Yang replied as she sat wearily on a chair nearby, "It isn't against the Treaty of Vytal, but only just, according to Ozpin anyway. With Ruby kept still like this, her Aura and the poison are about even."

"What about an antidote? Surely there must be one?" Pyrrha asked, her emerald green eyes full of concern as she gazed at Ruby.

"I asked Ozpin the same thing. Apparently, there hasn't been a case of Curse of Ages being used in the last two centuries." Yang replied, "The antidote's recipe is still being searched for, but it should be found and made by tomorrow and THEN I'll find the scum who did this to my baby sis and make them burn!"

"Leave that to the adults, kiddo." a voice said from the doorway, making Pyrrha jerk in surprise.

Yang perked up. "Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow leaned against the doorframe lazily, his eyes taking in the form of his eldest niece with some concern. Yang was stressed to the max, he could tell.

Walking over to the tired girl, he ruffled her hair, much to the shock of JNPR, who knew how touching the blond brawler's hair was where angels feared to tread.

"Ack! Gerrof!" Yang grumbled and swiped her uncle's hand off her hair.

"He actually touched Yang's _hair_ , and she _didn't_ explode on him!" Jaune whispered to Pyrrha incredulously.

"I know…who is he?" she whispered back, just as shocked.

"Yang, care to introduce me to your friends?" Qrow asked in amusement, having heard everything the two had said.

"Sure." Yang nodded, "Uncle Qrow, this is Team JNPR, good friends of me and Rubes. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, this is mine and Ruby's uncle, Senior Hunter Qrow 'the Silent Reaper' Branwen, a teacher at Signal Academy. He's the man who taught Ruby how to build and wield Crescent Rose."

"A pleasure to meet you." Pyrrha said with a small bow, "Both your nieces are formidable warriors. You must be an excellent teacher."

"Coming from the Queen of the Mistrallian Tournament Circuit, that is high praise indeed." Qrow smirked, "Ruby was who I mainly taught…Yang took after her father more than Ruby did. Let's see my other niece."

He looked through the window and growled slightly at the sight of Ruby on the bed.

"Yeah…imagine how I felt when I saw it for the first time." Yang said with a pat on his arm.

"Not well, I'm guessing." Qrow stated, "Where's your other two teammates?"

"With Ozpin." Yang replied, "Is Dad here?"

"Ozzy's sending him and Goodwitch to destroy the place where the poison was made." Qrow replied, "I believe his words to Taiyang were 'scorch it to the ground' or something along those lines."

"Wow…the headmaster's hardcore!" Yang exclaimed, "Wait…you call Professor Ozpin 'Ozzy'?"

"We're old friends." Qrow shrugged, "Anyway, JNPR, thank you for visiting Ruby. She'll be happy to know that you visited once all this is over."

"Ruby is our friend, sir." Ren stated softly, "It isn't something worth remarking upon."

"I see." Qrow nodded, "Could you four do me and Team RWBY a favour and take extra notes for them to look over once this is resolved. I'd hate for them to fall behind on their studies."

"Of course." Jaune nodded, "Right guys?"

"It would be our honour." the redhead agreed.

"Excellent. Now I do hate to cut your visit short, but I need to speak with Yang in private, so…" Qrow trailed off meaningfully.

"OK. Yang, if you get a chance, say hi to Ruby for us." Jaune said.

"Will do, Vomit Boy." Yang nodded with an evil grin.

"Yang!" the blond swordsman groaned.

Once JNPR was a safe distance away from the room, Jaune asked his partner, "Pyrrha, why'd you jump when Mr Qrow said hello?"

"Because I didn't sense him approaching." the Spartan replied, "Normally my Polarity Semblance lets me detect any metal within range and I can tell what that metal is because of what its shape is, but with him…even with him standing right there in front of me, I couldn't feel _any_ metal on him, despite the fact he had metal zips on his clothes and his weapon sheathed at his back."

"Qrow the Silent Reaper is infamous for having a Semblance that suppresses any trace of him being detected." Ren said softly, "His Aura, the sound of him walking, any scent he has…even precognition Semblances cannot see him. I would guess that it sheaths his body, deflecting any detection ability, passive or active, sent at it…including your Polarity sensing."

"Scary…" Jaune shivered.

"He is a formidable man." Pyrrha agreed, "Anyway, we should head back to our dorm and copy today's notes for Team RWBY."

 _Back with Yang and Qrow_

"How's Ruby doing? For real?" Qrow asked his niece.

Yang sighed. "She's been quiet recently, but she's been whimpering in pain every so often…being alone and unwell isn't a good combination for her, as you know."

Qrow did indeed know that fully well. After Summer Rose's death, Yang had become a surrogate mother to Ruby and had babied her quite a bit, but something that had remained the same from before her mother's death was that Ruby just did not cope with being alone at the same time as being sick. The one time Yang had gone to Signal while Ruby was sick had never been repeated when she found Ruby bawling in fear when she came back.

"Well, let's solve that right now." the Hunter headed for the door.

 _Inside…_

Ruby was in a haze of pain as she rested on the bed. Painkillers weren't effective on Hunters and Huntresses because their Aura burnt through it like it was a poison.

' _Hah!_ ' Ruby though grouchily. Trust her to be poisoned by the one poison that could kill her.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice called out to her.

"Uncle…Qrow?" she croaked out, opening here eyes fully.

"Hey kiddo." Qrow smiled, "Ah-ah-ah! No trying to get up. You aren't in any shape to get up, Ruby."

"Why…are you allowed in here?" she asked.

"Thanks in part to my Semblance; I have complete control of my Aura." Qrow replied, "So there's no chance of me affecting your Aura."

"…I'm glad you're here." Ruby said in a small voice, "How's Yang?"

"Worried sick about you." Qrow replied, "There's no need to worry though. The antidote will be fully synthesised by this time tomorrow and you'll be moved to the infirmary proper once the poison has been countered fully."

"I hate being alone." the silver-eyed girl muttered, "I want my team."

"They're on the other side of that window, when they aren't fetching meals or trying to find Torchwick." Qrow told her.

"Torchwick…oh yeah…the guy with orange hair with the cannon-cane." Ruby mused.

"According to our records, it's called 'Melodic Cudgel' although some people call it the 'Candycane'." Qrow said in amusement, "He doesn't like that last one. Makes him quite mad."

"I'll make sure to call it that the next time we meet." Ruby chuckled.

Looking through the glass, Yang was more than slightly envious that her uncle could be with Ruby at a time like this. She had OK control over her Aura and Semblance, but it wasn't really a Semblance that was meant to be controllable, so she had barely bothered.

Now though…now her lack of control was keeping her separated from her sister. Like hell she was going to let this happen again.

"Yang?" Blake's soft voice drew the brawler out of her self-deprecating thoughts. The cat Faunus offered her a cup of hot chocolate, which Yang accepted gratefully.

"Who's that in there with Ruby?" Weiss asked sharply. The Schnee Heiress had a hand on Myrtenaster in case she needed to draw it.

" _Chillax_ , Princess." Yang waved her free hand at her, "That's uncle Qrow."

"…oh."

"Anything happen while we were away?" Blake asked.

"JNPR came to visit. Pyrrha was pissed at people poisoning Rubes." Yang replied shortly, "They're going to take notes for us in class, so we can catch up once Rubes is out of trouble."

"You can have Nora's notes." Weiss stated flatly, "I cannot understand that chicken scratch she calls writing."

"Sure. Rubes'll have Pyrrha's notes, Blakey here can have Jaune's and you can have Ren's." Yang replied absently.

"Yang…what's bothering you?" Blake asked, "You would ordinarily argue about that with Weiss, so something must be."

"It's…" Yang hesitated, "I'm…jealous of uncle Qrow being able to go in there with Ruby. I've never really bothered to learn how to control my Semblance and Aura, just channel them. Maybe if I had, I could be in there with her."

Weiss snorted disdainfully. "You oaf. Don't think so much of yourself."

"What was that, Schnee?!" Yang snapped, her eyes turning red.

"I have trained every day since my Aura was awoken, under the best private tutors money could buy, so I naturally have far better Aura control than you do." Weiss said with a sniff, "And even _I_ can't fully suppress my Aura. Even my _older sister_ can't suppress her Aura. It is a rare ability that precious few people are able to learn. Don't beat yourself up for not having the ability to do something even _I_ cannot accomplish."

Blake smiled slightly as she realised that, in her own awkward, anti-social manner, Weiss was trying to comfort Yang.

Evidently, the penny dropped for Yang too, as she snorted and relaxed, her eyes returning to lavender. "Yeah, yeah…laugh it up, Princess."

"Still this poison is evil." Blake said with a frown, "It means that only someone like Doctor Peach or your Uncle can treat someone poisoned by it…if they ever realise what poison it is in the first place."

"What kind of sicko made it?" Yang shook her head in frustration.

"She wasn't a 'sicko' of any kind, Miss Xiao Long." Doctor Peach said as she came up to stand next to the three girls, "Her name was Miriam Strauss, a kind and gentle woman who hated the idea of something like Mistilteinn."

"Why'd she make it then?" Yang asked.

"She was a citizen of Vale during the latter part of the War of the Four Kingdoms." Peach replied, "She was a genius level toxicologist, chemist, pharmacist, apothecary and scientist. She lived peacefully with her husband and two children until one day; an Atlesian Special Forces team kidnapped all of them and took them before General Hans Schwarzkopf."

"The Bloody Butcher of Atlas?!" Weiss gasped.

"That would be his epithet." Peach nodded, "He ordered Miriam to create a drug that would turn an Aura user's own Aura against them, making it damage them the more it was used. Naturally, she refused."

"That…would have made him angry." Weiss said with a shake of her head.

"Indeed it did. He threatened to kill her children in front of her if she didn't do as he wished." Peach replied, a moue of distaste on her face, "She had no choice in the matter, although some would say she should have refused at all costs, regardless of what happened to her family. Regardless, she created Mistilteinn, but added the requirement that it had to be deliberately created to target one individual specifically. Thank heavens that she did, otherwise Atlas would have won the war."

"Wouldn't the general's pet scientists have recognised that the requirement was added by Miriam Straus?" Blake asked.

"Hah! Mistilteinn is a highly complex poison." Peach snorted, "It is easy to synthesise if you have the ingredients and step-by-step synthesising process, but understanding how it works was something only Miriam Strauss knew. Those quack scientists couldn't make heads or tails of it, so had to take her at her word that it couldn't be changed."

"So…what happened to her family?" Yang asked uneasily.

"General Schwarzkopf had their Auras awoken and used as test subjects for the poison." Peach replied angrily, "He thought that would break her to his will. Boy was he wrong."

"God…!" Blake covered her mouth with her hand in horror.

"Sick bastard!" Yang hissed.

Weiss just shook her head silently. The Schwarzkopf family had been one of the 'royal' families of Atlas, much like the Schnee Family was now. The publicly known actions of Hans Schwarzkopf had caused them to fall after the Treaty of Vytal was signed, but she hadn't realised how inhuman he had been to civilians behind the scenes.

"When Miriam saw her family murdered by her own concoction, she went mad." Peach said softly, "She broke out of the base she was held in and fled to the Commander of the Vale Army and told him about Mistilteinn and begged for the chance to create an antidote. She was the only one who could create something to counter it, so the Commander let her have the resources she needed, so when Schwarzkopf used the Mistilteinn via assassins, only one person died because of it. The rest were saved by the antidote, known as Váli."

"What happened to her?" Weiss asked.

"After the Treaty of Vytal, she took her own life, leaving behind a note apologising for creating such a monstrosity of a poison, as well as information on the location of every known Blumenkranz plant in Atlas and the formula for the antidote." Peach replied, "So Mistilteinn isn't the creation of a madman or a sicko, Miss Xiao Long. It was created in an attempt to save the lives of the creator's loved ones. A tragic tale if there ever was one."

"No kidding." Yang said in a subdued manner.

"On that note, I need to draw blood from the three of you if you still wish to aid in creating the antidote." Peach said, pulling a syringe gun from her lab coat.

"Of course." Weiss nodded.

"Hell yeah." Yang nodded, glad to finally be able to do something to help her sister.

Blake just nodded.

"Miss Schnee first, I think." Peach said as she inserted a vial into the back of the gun and locked it in place, "Roll up your sleeve, if you please."

As Weiss was doing so, Yang had to ask, "Umm…Doctor Peach? Why is it that my blood won't be as good as Weiss and Blake's for the antidote?"

"As Ozpin explained before, your DNA is similar to Miss Rose's own DNA due to you two being half-sisters." Peach said patiently, "That means that the effectiveness of your blood and Aura infusion will be halved once it is injected into Miss Rose."

"Will it hurt Ruby if I help?" the blond asked hesitantly.

"Heavens no!" Peach assured her before pressing the gun to the Schnee Heiress' arm and pulling the trigger, filling the vial with blood.

Once she secured it, she turned back to Yang. "All it means is that your blood and Aura will be only half as effective because they will be somewhat similar to Miss Rose's own. She will not be harmed by you helping in any way, I assure you. The antidote will cause some medium level pain while it forces the Mistilteinn out of her body though. That will be unavoidable."

"If it saves her…" Yang said, not happy Ruby would be put through even more pain, but resigned to it if it helped her.

"It will." Peach promised, "Now, arm out please."

Once she had drawn blood from all three of them, Peach hurried off to finish the antidote.

"C'mon sis." Yang muttered, "Hold on till tomorrow."

 **RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBY**

 **Next Chapter: Poison Flame**

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	5. Poison Flame

**Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 5 here.**

 **To those who worry about shipping,** **this** **Fic will have no shipping in it.**

 **However.**

 **I will damn well ship whomsoever I please in my own Fics. In the case of RWBY, that will be either White Rose and Bumblebee or Pollination. So please, no more orders in guest reviews regarding shipping.**

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 5: Poison Flame**

 _Six Hours Later_

 _Airship, En Route to the Continent of Mantle_

Glynda Goodwitch was a strict woman, first and foremost. She demanded the best of her students and fellow professors and cracked down on rule breakers like a ton of bricks. Her reasons for doing so would surprise any of her students…because she cared greatly for them.

Year in and year out, she taught many prospective Hunters and Huntresses and she took pride in each of their achievements, just as the news of each death wounded her greatly. Therefore, she pushed her students to their limits in the hopes of reducing the number of deaths by even the smallest amount.

It was for that reason that she had been so harsh on one Ruby Rose when she had tried to stop Roman Torchwick from robbing the Dust Shop. She had recognised the scythe style of Qrow Branwen in her movements, albeit less practiced than what the Silent Reaper could use, and had known she was Summer's daughter. How could she not? Put Ruby in red clothes with black trimming and a white cloak and you would have a perfect clone of her mother.

The Dust user that had been in the Bullhead that Torchwick had escaped in could have hurt Ruby badly, Aura or not, and she had just been a Signal Academy student. Slight fright had made her react more harshly than normal, which she did feel guilty about.

And now that coward Torchwick had struck back at Ruby Rose by turning her own Aura against her. Glynda didn't really get angry that often, but now she was _furious_. One of her students had been poisoned and the one behind it was out of reach, regardless of whether it was Schwarz Schnee or Roman Torchwick.

Sitting across from her was Taiyang Xiao Long. He was tapping his foot impatiently with a scowl on his face as he glared a hole into the nearest bulkhead. He had said very little to her since boarding the airship at Beacon's Airdock, instead choosing to brood and occasionally mutter curses under his breath.

She felt for him. Raven Branwen left him after giving birth to Yang, then Summer Rose died in the line of duty, and now his youngest daughter, the one piece of his second wife remaining in the world, was almost killed by a person or person's unknown for who knows what reason. In all honesty, she was surprised he hadn't blown something up by now.

"What information did the Schnee girl give us about the defences on this place?" Taiyang asked abruptly.

"Not much." Glynda replied, "There again, she says that she's only been there twice, so she can't know much about it. She did mention that the main guard force is a battalion of AK-130 droids, as well as a Spider Heavy Assault Droid. Whether there are gun emplacements or not, she has no idea."

"Can we trust her words?" Taiyang asked.

This made Glynda stiffen. "Weiss Schnee is a Huntress-in-Training, Taiyang. She was the one who got your daughter to the infirmary as fast as was physically possible once it was apparent that something was wrong. She has yet to prove she had any inkling of this plot. It isn't as if the ingredients of the Individual Eleven are published in the numerous copies of the Treaty of Vytal in the four kingdoms."

The blond man sighed. "I know, I know…but the Schnee family haven't exactly been the most honourable family in the last two generations. Rothaarige and his son Schwarz have dragged the family name through the mud and made me trust the Schnee family about as far as I could throw a Goliath."

"And with the Schnees having the only remaining Blumenkranz flowers, it isn't easy to trust them." Glynda added, "Everything you're saying occurred to me as soon as Ozpin informed me of this mission…and I have no doubt that Weiss Schnee had nothing to do with this. She resents her father for all but abandoning her. She was raised more by her sister and an army of maids and butlers than her father, who paid more attention to the SDC than his children after his wife died."

"I wasn't that much better after Summer…" Taiyang muttered.

"But you did eventually pull yourself together and become involved in your daughters lives again." Glynda said gently, "Yang and Ruby love you and have long since forgiven you, if they ever blamed you at all. Schwarz hasn't even tried. He sees his children as investments at best and nuisances at worst. You know what they say…loyalty begets loyalty."

"Thanks, Glynda." Taiyang smiled slightly, "That doesn't mean I'm not going to look forward to wrecking this greenhouse. Knowing the Schnees, there will be at least one of every illegal plant on the Blacklist. I hope you brought something to let us track what's illegal and what's not."

"According to Miss Schnee, there's an internal database with the name and rarity of every plant in the greenhouse." Glynda said slightly smugly, "I have the plant-based ingredients for the Individual Eleven memorised, so by looking through the database I can pinpoint which ones we need to eradicate."

"It would be easier if you just let me unleash the full power of the Ifreet." Taiyang pointed out.

"As tempting as it is, no." the blond-haired woman replied dryly, "Destroying illegal plants and chemicals is one thing, even if we have to bust through droids in order to do so, but destroying the entire greenhouse is a bit much."

"Tch." the blond man muttered.

Glynda felt a headache brewing. She could see now exactly where Yang and Ruby got their stubbornness from, although Summer and Raven had been fairly stubborn themselves and probably contributed to their daughters' pigheaded nature.

' _Dust give me strength._ ' she thought wearily, ' _I'll need all I can muster to persuade this man to_ not _turn the greenhouse into a pyre of flames._ '

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 _Same Time_

 _Headmaster Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy_

Ozpin stared at the face of the soldier on his desk screen. He was starting to loose patience with the idiot, who had been obstructive to him for the last quarter of an hour.

"Lieutenant Bright." he said slowly, "Understand me when I say that this is not a request. You _will_ connect me to General James Ironwood immediately. Should you fail to do so, when I do get through to him, I shall arrange for you to be out of the Atlesian Military faster than a bullet can travel a hundred yards. Do you understand me?"

-{ _Sir._ }- the man on the screen gulped nervously, -{ _The General has given strict instructions that no one is to disturb him for the next hour, not even you. If I do override the block he has on the communicator, I'll lose my job regardless of you asking him or not._ }-

"Interrupt him and tell him I said that it's a Code Black Eleven situation." Ozpin said.

The lieutenant stiffened at that. Evidently, he knew the various code levels in the Hunter Corps well enough to recognise that any Code Black meant that the Treaty of Vytal had been broken.

-{ _Understood._ }- the soldier looked resigned, but determined, -{ _Please hold for a moment._ }-

The soldier's face was replaced by a revolving crest, the symbol of the Atlesian Military. Ozpin settled back in his chair and took a sip of his ever-present cup of coffee. He so disliked dealing with the military. In Ozpin's mind, Hunters and the military should be two separate organisations that cooperated, yes, but to be one and the same as they were in Atlas?

No.

That James Ironwood was the head of both the Hunters on the Continent of Mantle and the Atlesian Military was a grave concern for Ozpin. So much power concentrated in the hands of one man was rarely a good thing, even is that man was one of Ozpin's old friends.

Ironwood had been badly injured in a battle as a young Hunter and had lost his arm. The only reason he had remained a Hunter even now was thanks to the artificial arm the military had given him. He had joined the military in the Special Forces and had risen rapidly, becoming the Highest Rank of General six years ago.

His thinking had become…odd…over the years. James had grown increasingly reliant on the robotic constructions made by the SDC to supplement the Hunter Corps in Atlas and, on occasion, replace them completely. He was willing to sacrifice his life and those of his men to protect the citizens of the kingdom, as well as the 'innocence' of young Hunters and Huntresses, while, conversely, pressuring them to become a part of the Atlesian Special Forces once they graduated from Atlas Academy.

Ozpin was drawn out of his thoughts by the crest on the screen was replaced with the irate face of his old friend. Evidently, he was not happy that he was interrupted.

' _Well that's too bad._ ' Ozpin thought privately.

-{ _Ozpin, couldn't this have waited another hour?_ }- James Ironwood said tersely, -{ _You startled Lieutenant Bright with this talk of a Code Black._ }-

"I said nothing that wasn't true, James." Ozpin replied calmly, "I'm hereby declaring a Code Black Eleven situation."

The look of shock on Ironwood's face was priceless.

"Before I go on, could you summon Huntress Winter Schnee?" the Headmaster of Beacon continued, "What I have to say affects her as well."

James scowled at his refusal to refer to a graduate of a Hunter Academy by her military rank.

-{ _Very well._ }- the General said reluctantly and called for her over the intercom of the building he was in before returning his attention to Ozpin, -{ _You're lucky to catch her._ Specialist _Schnee is usually on duty elsewhere._ }-

"You mean guarding the factory where you are producing the Atlesian Knight-200 series, as well as the Atlesian Paladin-290 Battlesuits?" Ozpin asked casually, enjoying the sight of James Ironwood looking poleaxed.

-{ _Y-You…how did you find out about those?!_ }- Ironwood spluttered, -{ _I was going to reveal those just prior to the Vytal Festival!_ }-

"I have my ways James." Ozpin said, "I must say though that your overreliance on those toys of yours is becoming less quaint and more worrying."

-{ _I fail to see why you denigrate the Knight series so much. They save money and personnel for guard duty._ }-James replied sourly, -{ _They're more easily replaced than humans as well._ }-

"They are also of extremely limited utility against the Creatures of Grimm." Ozpin said pointedly, "As I have repeatedly stressed to you, only Human or Faunus Aura and Nature's Wrath combined can do more than delay the darkness. Wasting your time with droids is little more than playing with toys. We are Hunters, first and foremost. The Grimm are the enemy we must fight, not the enemies of the kingdom we happen to live in."

-{ _Ozpin…!_ }- James growled. The two of them had been butting heads over this issue for years and neither of them was willing to back down on the issue. The impending argument was interrupted by the arrival of Winter Schnee to Ironwood's office.

The elder Schnee Scion was a striking young woman dressed in the white uniform of the Atlesian Military with her alabaster hair done up in a tight bun. She was a good image of how Weiss would look in a few years time.

"Now that we are all here, I shall begin." Ozpin said, getting straight to the point, "Yesterday, a member of Team RWBY was poisoned with the Mistilteinn poison, one of the Individual Eleven, while she was studying."

-{ _RWBY…Weiss!_ }- Winter exclaimed, -{ _Is my sister…?!_ }-

"Your sister is fine." Ozpin reassured her, "The target of the poisoning was Miss Schnee's Partner, Miss Ruby Rose. Although your sister might have been poisoned, had Ruby not been concentrating on her essay so much. She often offers Miss Schnee a cookie while they study together and Miss Schnee always accepts to humour her."

-{ _Poisoned_ cookies _…?_ }- Ironwood raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Rose has quite the sweet tooth." Ozpin replied, "She's Summer's daughter."

James' eyes widened at that before he sighed. -{ _Of course. The Rose Family always has had a sweet tooth._ }-

"Just so." Ozpin nodded, "Now, Miss Schnee. Can I confirm that in your family's secret greenhouse you have a plant known as the Blumenkranz flower?"

-{ _How…Weiss told you, I take it?_ }- Winter sighed, -{ _Yes, that flower is one of the many rare and endangered plants in the greenhouse. What of it?_ }-

"It is highly illegal to possess that flower." the grey-haired man told her, "It is one of the key ingredients of Mistilteinn and was supposedly eradicated shortly after the Treaty of Vytal and is in fact on the Blacklist. Were you aware of this?"

-{ _No. I may have access to the Blacklist, but my duties in the military are peacekeeping and Black Ops._ }- Winter replied, obviously shocked, -{ _I can't remember the last time I've even accessed the secure database that it's on._ }-

"I see. To confirm something, your father and the Schnee Head Gardener are the only two people who possess the access codes to this secret greenhouse?" Ozpin enquired.

-{ _That is true._ }- Winter replied cautiously, -{ _Why do you ask?_ }-

"As per the Treaty of Vytal, I am officially Sanctioning that greenhouse." Ozpin stated formally, "I have already dispatched Senior Huntress Glynda Goodwitch and recently reactivated Senior Hunter Taiyang Xiao Long to destroy the Mistilteinn ingredient, as well as any other illegal plants from the Blacklist."

-{ _But if you do that, father will know that someone told you about the greenhouse!_ }- Winter blurted out, -{ _Only trusted lifetime servants and members of the Schnee Family know about it! He'll suspect Weiss told you and who knows what he'll do to her if that happens!_ }-

Ozpin smiled coldly. "As it so happens, Schwarz Schnee is one of the two suspects that we suspect ordered the assassination attempt on Miss Rose, so if he wants to cause trouble in my school, he's welcome to try."

-{ _Ozpin, who is the other suspect?_ }- Ironwood asked.

"A criminal that Ruby Rose has stopped twice before called Roman Torchwick." Ozpin replied, "He seems to have some sort of control over the White Fang, as he was witnessed by a student ordering them around during the attempted Dust theft at the Vale Docks."

-{ _The White Fang taking orders from a_ human _?_ }- Winter asked sceptically.

"Hard to believe I know, but it is a fact that Penny can confirm." Ozpin replied, "She was there as well and seems to have taken a shine to young Ruby. She can confirm my words if you truly doubt them. She likely has a very… _sharp_ …memory. Almost _photographic_ , wouldn't you agree, James?"

James Ironwood paled as the implications of Ozpin's words. He knew exactly what Penny was. The first artificial human with a soul and thus able to use Aura. His secret weapon in persuading the other kingdoms to adopt his policies and gradually phase out Hunters and Huntresses.

Ozpin was easily able to pick out his old friend's thoughts from his pale face and chuckled inwardly. No matter how old he got, Ironwood was still as easy to read as when they had first met.

"Anyway, if it is Torchwick who orchestrated this assassination attempt on Miss Rose, this suggests that the Head Gardener of the Schnee Family is compromised." Ozpin continued, "Either that or the security codes at the greenhouse have been cracked."

-{ _In either case, father will be furious._ }- Winter muttered.

"Yes, well, at the moment you are forbidden to contact your father regarding this situation." Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee, "Considering he is a suspect as well. Especially considering he has been proven to have violated the Treaty of Vytal. There will be consequences for the Schnee Family for that."

-{ _What sort of consequences?_ }- Winter asked uncertainly.

"Legal. Financial. Prestige. Connections." Ozpin listed, "At the very least, for having the Blumenkranz flower in your possession, there will be a fine…let's see…it was equal to a fifth of the annual income of the family, wasn't it?"

-{ _A_ fifth _?!_ }- Winter exclaimed in shock, -{ _Do you know how much lien that is for the Schnee Family?!_ }-

"Quite a substantial amount." Ozpin stated, "That is the amount if there are no _other_ illegal plants there. I rather suspect that there are, so the amount is likely to increase substantially if the Schnee Family was as foolish and greedy as I suspect it was during the time following the Treaty of Vytal."

Winter became even paler than normal, which was quite the sight.

-{ _I am curious Ozpin._ }- James said in the silence following Ozpin's words, -{ _Why did you select Miss Rose to be the leader of Team RWBY rather than Miss Schnee? On paper, it's a bad decision._ }-

"You mean I'm not showing proper respect to the Schnee Family? Perhaps." Ozpin allowed, "But it was the right decision. Weiss has grown up knowing that if she orders something done, it will be done. She has been prepared in every way possible to be a leader…which is why I didn't make her one."

-{ _I don't follow._ }- James admitted.

"She has been trained to lead, but not to subordinate." Ozpin replied, "In both the military and the Hunters, in order to lead, you must first learn to follow a leader. Something Ruby Rose knows very well. All of _her_ life, she has been content to follow the lead of her beloved elder sister, Yang, in most things. She knows how to listen, how to balance opinions and how it feels to _be_ a subordinate. By forcing both of these girls out of their comfort zones, they will grow and become stronger for it."

-{ _What is Ruby Rose's best subject?_ }- Winter asked in a subdued tone, obviously still in shock about the penalties her family will face.

"Weapons Crafting." Ozpin smiled, "Her skills at designing and forging weaponry are off the charts for someone of her age, as is her skill with using her weapon of choice, a High Impact Sniper Scythe, taught to her by her uncle, Qrow Branwen."

-{ _Qrow!_ }- Winter hissed, -{ _That drunken, disrespectful oaf!_ }-

"It should be noted that he dismissed any possibility that you had anything to do with the poisoning of his niece by referring to you as a 'By-the-book goody-two shoes' Miss Schnee." Ozpin said in amusement, "He is very upset that his niece was almost killed and has asked to be sent after the one responsible. You had better hope that your father wasn't responsible for it, Miss Schnee."

-{ _Father wouldn't know Ruby Rose from a hole in the wall were it not for the fact she's one of Weiss' teammates._ }- Winter huffed, -{ _There's no logical reason for him to order it done!_ }-

"Almost word for word what your sister stated." Ozpin nodded, "It seems there is more similarity between the both of you aside from mere physical appearance."

This, of course, made Winter flush red. Ozpin concealed a smile with another sip of coffee. Teasing straight-laced women was an art form for him, especially with Glynda Goodwitch around to practice on. Winter Schnee was easy by comparison to the blond Professor.

-{ _Was there anything else, Ozpin?_ }- Ironwood asked with a sigh.

"Merely that I would request that the Atlesian Military not interfere in Glynda's mission." Ozpin replied, "Oh, and if you could make reporting any sign of Torchwick and/or capturing him a priority, I would appreciate it. I believe that I have some questions I would like to ask him."

-{ _Very well._ }- the General sighed, -{ _I'll send alerts out to all units in the military to keep an eye out for him. I wish you had talked to me before sending Glynda out though. You could have used some of my troops instead._ }-

"You know the Code Black Eleven protocols as well as I do, James." Ozpin said reprovingly, "Only those who know about the existence of the Blacklist and the Individual Eleven are permitted to be used for Code Enforcement for this particular situation."

-{ _It will still make Schwarz angry._ }- James said with a frown, -{ _And when he gets angry, he leans on the government who then lean on me._ }-

"This is why the Hunter Academies are nominally separate from whatever kingdom they happen to reside in." Ozpin pointed out, "Yes, the Vale Councillors have control over my budget, but with the assassination attempt being performed through the one route that they have refused to allow funding to plug up, I can safely say that I will have the power of the purse back momentarily, allowing Beacon to be fully independent once again and rectifying my predecessor's error in allowing the Council to persuade him to part with that power 'for the Greater Good' of the kingdom."

Ironwood grimaced. Ozpin had been, to put it mildly, apoplectic when he had discovered the state Beacon academy had been in when he became the Headmaster. He had worked tirelessly to restore Beacon's independent status but had run into a wall when it came to the last thing he had to acquire, the so-called 'Power of the Purse'.

Beacon was funded by the Council, as well as by the fees paid by the families of the students that attended the Academy. The way it was now, 40% of the income that the school received came from school fees, while the majority came from the Council. Sadly, the Council had been trying to decrease the amount of lien Beacon received from their budget.

They should have just given up while the going was good, because now Ozpin was going to do more than regain control of the budget; he was going to make them increase it because of the proven holes in Beacon's security.

-{ _Later then, Ozpin._ }- Ironwood said abruptly before cutting the connection.

"Still a sore loser, James." Ozpin sighed. Perhaps he shouldn't have revealed he knew about Penny. That had been a bit much for him to digest in one sitting, along with the 200-series Knights and 290-Paladins being known about.

He picked up his scroll and reviewed the report that Team CFVY had submitted when they returned from their mission in failure, although not from any misdeed on their part. The suspect, discovered in his living room, had had half of his head blown off with a powerful high-calibre gunshot from close range, very likely Roman Torchwick cleaning up loose ends with his Melodic Cudgel.

' _This practically confirms that Schwarz had nothing to do with Ruby's poisoning._ ' he mused, ' _Well, it's better to keep Schwarz out of the loop as long as possible, otherwise he'll try and interfere to save himself some lien._ '

 _Later_

 _Observation Room_

"Yang…what's wrong?" Blake asked gently.

The blond brawler had been even more morose as the day went on, always getting worse as she glanced at her uncle and sister through the one-way glass.

"Oh for…don't tell me you're still jealous of your uncle's Aura control?" Weiss asked in exasperation.

"No!" Yang defended herself, "Just…this is the second time I almost lost Ruby…and I was feeling bad because I thought 'hey, at least it isn't my fault this time' so…"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked with a sharp tone to her voice.

"Yang, you don't have to answer that." the cat Faunus interjected quickly when the usually irrepressible blond had withdrawn into herself at the question.

"No…it's fine." Yang said with a sigh as she rallied herself, "I woulda told you two about it eventually, but with Ruby almost… _dying_ …and everything, it's a sore subject."

"…sorry." Weiss said softly.

"Thanks, Princess." Yang grinned slightly at the Schnee Heiress before becoming serious again, "The first thing you guys have to understand is…Ruby and I are only half-sisters. We have different mothers."

Both the other girls' eyes widened at that.

"After I was born, as soon as my birth-mother had fully recovered from labour, she just…vanished." Yang said, staring at Ruby and Qrow again, "No note, no explanation…nothing. It broke dad's heart. To this day, I have no idea what she looks like or even her name."

"How could she do that?" Weiss hissed, scandalised, "Leaving her newborn daughter like that?!"

Blake looked outraged as well. She had lost her parents as a child, but had known that her mother loved her and wouldn't have left her had the choice been hers. For Yang's mother to have just walked away from her newborn daughter…

Yang grimaced before continuing, "About a year after that, dad started dating a woman and ended up marrying her. She was the woman I knew as a mother for most of my life and her name…was Summer Rose. When I was two, she gave birth to Ruby, and we were…happy."

Blake saw how Yang's lavender eyes seemed to sparkle as she talked about Summer in a way they had only ever sparkled in relation to Ruby. Obviously, Yang loved Summer as much as she did Ruby.

"Summer was, like, miss perfect superwoman." the blond said fondly, "She could cook food good enough to make a gourmet weep, she could handle all the house chores alone, she always had time for us kids and she could kill monsters three times her size without breaking a sweat. Summer Rose was everything I ever wanted to be…but knew I could never be."

Yang's eyes dimmed as she added, "Then, when I was seven, everything fell apart again. Summer went on a hunt…and never came back. They couldn't find a trace of her body."

"Dust…!" Weiss cursed.

"Ruby was too young to understand that her mother was gone…gone and never coming back." Yang said bitterly, "But me…I knew that my invincible Summer was gone. I was pretty sad about it, but dad…he fell apart. I overheard him and uncle Qrow arguing and one sentence dad said struck me: This makes twice. Never again."

A wry smile flickered across the blonde's face. "I asked uncle Qrow and dad about it, but they wouldn't tell me anything, so I dove into research until I finally discovered that dad had been married once before…and that she had left him and me voluntarily. I wanted to find her, to ask her why? Why did she leave us? Why did she leave me? More than that…I wanted a mother again."

"Yang…" Blake said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I was…obsessed." Yang continued with a nod of thanks at her partner, "I lived and breathed the search for weeks…until I finally discovered something that might have been a lead on my mother. So, being an idiotic preteen girl, I popped Ruby in the back of a wagon and headed off to find my mother."

"When you were _seven_?!" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"See my previous statement on idiotic preteen girl." Yang replied self-depreciatingly, "We lived -still do- on the isle of Patch, so nothing was more than a day's walk for a hunter…but for a seven-year old girl? It took me a day and a night to reach the abandoned house that I had been looking for. I didn't sleep or eat the whole time. I was exhausted, starving and thirsty by the time we arrived. Ruby, I had given most of the food and water to, so she was asleep."

Yang's eyes filled with an emotion Weiss and Blake recognised, having seen it in their reflections for years…self-hatred.

"So there we were…one stupid girl too tired and exhausted to do anything and a toddler asleep in a wagon…against a building full of rabid newborn Beowolves." she bit out.

"Sweet mercy…!" Blake breathed.

"I know, right?" Yang sighed, "All I could think about as I watched the Grimm close in on me was how I was never going to find my mother. Nothing about Ruby or me dying, just that. I was so stupid."

She looked up at her teammates with pain in her eyes. "At the last minute, uncle Qrow showed up and slaughtered the Grimm. I could barely see him move and he killed every single one by decapitating them…with a scythe. Even Ruby has a hard time doing that three times in a row with Beowolves and uncle Qrow did it with over _thirty_ of them."

"Such skill…" Weiss breathed.

"When we got back home…dad hugged both of us so tightly." Yang said softly, "He begged me to never do that again…that he couldn't take losing someone he loved again. I promised him there and then I wouldn't."

Blake noticed Yang's fist trembling as she continued, "It was that moment that clued Ruby in to the fact that her mother was gone and never coming back…as well of the fact that I had almost died. She climbed into my bed that night and begged me, her face wet with tears to never die, to never leave her."

She looked down. "I promised her. Because I hadn't cared for her when she had lost her birth mother. I'd gotten so lost in my obsession that I had almost killed her, my own baby sister. I was scum, so if being by her side was what Ruby wanted from me, I would do it without a second thought."

"Yang, you are far from scum." Weiss said in a strangely gentle tone, "You had just lost the person you considered your mother and had your world rocked by discovering that she hadn't been your birth-mother. Most people would have reacted in far worse ways than becoming obsessed in finding the truth."

Yang shook her head before finishing her story. "After that, things got tough for Ruby at school. The other kids somehow found out about Summer dying and started to pick on her because of it, some really hateful stuff too…'I heard her mom got eaten by a Beowolf'…'I heard she was torn to shreds by an Ursa'…stuff like that."

"How could they…?" Blake shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and anger at how callous children could be.

"I kicked their asses, of course." Yang mimed punching a couple of times, "But that isolated me from my classmates, who had joined in, and Ruby from hers. Right the way through Signal, it was Yang and Ruby against the world. Ruby wanted to become a Huntress, like Summer, so I jumped on the bandwagon. It isn't like I have any overriding goal, like Ruby does…I want to be near her and the life of a Huntress is one that'll never get dull, so it fits me well enough."

The blond girl looked down and added, very quietly, "I just still can't forgive myself for being so stupid. I almost killed both of us because I couldn't control my obsession. What's worse is it still haunts me…where is my mother? I have contacts who are scouring the underworld for her, but…"

She shrugged, indicating no luck. "And that's the story of how I almost killed my sister. Feel free to call me stupid."

"Foolish and pigheaded, but not stupid." Weiss replied, "I was determined to find my mother as well after she died, but my duties as heiress prevented me from doing so, and father…was rather blunt about informing me. Don't ask."

"Thank you for telling us, Yang." Blake said softly, "I can tell that it wasn't easy for you."

"Thanks." Yang smiled weakly.

"You should forgive yourself, Yang." Qrow said from nearby, making the three girls jump in fright.

"Gah! Stop using your Sneaking semblance when you don't have to!" Yang yelped.

"It isn't sneaking; it's called Presence Assassination." Qrow said patiently, "Seriously, don't feel bad about wheat happened back then. Tai and I blame ourselves for not keeping a closer eye on you two."

"I'll try." his niece sighed, "How's Ruby?"

"Worried about you." Qrow replied, "After she's had the antidote administered, you're going to have a red shadow following you around for a week, I think. Just like last time."

"As long as she's alive for it, I don't care." Yang said firmly.

"Fair enough." Qrow said, "I'm off to grab some grub. Be back in ten."

He headed for the door, but stopped and turned his head to look at Yang for a moment.

"Raven." he said.

"Huh?"

"Your mother's name." Qrow said, "She's my sister. Her name is Raven Branwen and you look just like her when your eyes turn red."

With that, he walked out of the door, leaving a speechless Yang behind.

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 **Next Chapter: Cleansing Flames**

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	6. Cleansing Flame

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 6: Cleansing Flame**

 _The Next Day_

 _Bullhead, Above the Schnee Family Secret Greenhouse, Somewhere on the Continent of Mantle, Kingdom of Atlas_

"Trust old Schwartz to hide a greenhouse in the middle of a mountain range." Taiyang grumbled.

"It was most likely his father or grandfather who had it built, Tai." Glynda disagreed as she looked through her binoculars at the hidden base that held their target. The entrance was set into the base of a mountain and was very carefully concealed, to the point that unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, you wouldn't find it.

"True." the blond-haired man said begrudgingly, "So how're we going to do this?"

"First we attempt to order the robots to stand down." the other blond replied, "All Atlesian Knight models are programmed to obey the orders of Hunters and Huntresses, so if we order them to stand down, they should obey."

"Won't work." Taiyang said with conviction, "SDC droids are programmed to only respond to SDC Security Personnel or members of the Schnee Family when guarding a family base like this."

"…do I want to know why you know this?" Glynda asked after a long moment.

"Let's just say my team was a bit wild after we graduated and leave it at that." Taiyang grinned.

'… _this family is going to give me grey hair._ ' the Professor thought with a sigh, ' _I just know it._ '

A few minutes later, the Bullhead landed some distance away from the mountain to let the people (if any) inside the facility know that Hunters are approaching.

"Orders, ma'am?" the pilot asked.

"Take off and maintain a holding pattern until we sound the all clear." Glynda instructed him, "Once we do, park as close to the entrance as you can. We may have to leave in a hurry. And keep a watch out for any Atlesian Military or SDC personnel as well."

"Roger that."

As the VTOL took off, Taiyang unlimbered his hammer and made a few practice swipes with it. His weapon was relatively simple compared to Ruby's Crescent Rose or Yang's Ember Celica. It did have some mecha-shift teach in it, but only to make it smaller when he had it stowed for travel. Now, fully extended, it was as tall as he was, yet Taiyang wielded it easily with a single hand.

Glynda shivered as her innate danger senses warned her that she was near a very dangerous person, which was completely true. Taiyang Xiao Long had lost two wives in his life and hadn't had a clear target to vent his fury. Now his youngest daughter had almost been killed and this building held an ingredient to the poison that almost killed her.

The Ifreet would be unleashed if the droids resisted. Glynda knew this without an iota of doubt. Sadly, the words Taiyang had spoken earlier were likely true. The Schnee Family was very territorial about their assets, even more so since the White Fang had turned terrorist. The chances of them installing programming that Taiyang had suggested were high.

"Let's go." she said, one hand on her riding crop. Unlike most other Huntsmen or Huntresses, her weapon was a simple thing that required no maintenance or ammunition, plus it acted as an excellent conduit for her Telekinesis Semblance. A few unruly men had underestimated her because of the unassuming nature of her weapon and had come to regret it.

As the two Hunters walked towards the entrance, they spotted a single Atlesian Knight-130 emerge from the doors and stood waiting for them. Once they reached it, the droid raised its arms and shifted them into gun-mode.

"Intruder, identify yourself." the droid demanded flatly.

"Senior Huntress Glynda Goodwitch and Senior Hunter Taiyang Xiao Long." Glynda stated, "This facility has been Sanctioned for violation of the Treaty of Vytal. Stand down and deactivate or we will use all authorised force to ensure the Sanction is carried out."

"Negative. This facility is the property of the Schnee Family." the Knight replied, "Stand down and allow yourselves to be taken into custody…or force will be used."

As it spoke, hidden entrances opened up in the ground and the two Hunters found themselves surrounded by at least fifty more AK-130s.

"On the balance of things…I think not." Glynda said coolly.

That small sentence was all the permission Taiyang needed.

With a roar, he smashed the spokes-droid with a single smash of his hammer before turning around and slamming the hammer onto the ground, sending the droids that had been standing behind them crashing to the ground from the shockwave.

Glynda meanwhile, drew her riding crop and flicked it at the pile of smashed metal that had been an AK-130. Using her Semblance, she turned the scrap metal into three buzz saws tinged with the light purple light of her Aura and sent them to attack the droids that were in the middle of deploying their blade arms.

Against this kind of enemy, Glynda was a monster. Her Semblance turned small pieces of rubbish into deadly weapons and the more robots she destroyed the more weapons she could make. Teamed up with someone like Taiyang, whose deadly weapon specialised in turning these robots into small pieces of rubbish, she was nigh unstoppable.

"Eat this!" Taiyang roared as the flames of his Semblance blazed around him and his hammer as he tore the droids apart as if they were made of tinfoil. Bits and pieces of them littered the ground and Glynda wasted no time in forming more buzz saws to cut down the AK-130s.

Those few that did make it to striking range of the woman were sent flying with a swipe of her riding crop…assisted by a dollop of aura enhancement and even a little enhancement from her Semblance. None that was struck stood again.

Soon, all who had stood against the two Hunters lay broken upon the field.

"That was easy." Taiyang grunted, "These damn things aren't worth the Dust used to power them. Might as well be cardboard cut-outs."

"There should be a Spider Droid on the way." Glynda said with a frown, "Miss Schnee was certain that one was present here."

"It's probably stuck to the ceiling of the main entry hall, ready to blast us with its cannons." Taiyang opined, "If there is one, it'll use the advantage it has in confined spaces to the hilt."

"How bothersome." the Huntress sighed, "You can deal with it. I'll go looking for a mainframe access point."

"Gotcha. Let me knock on the door first." the Hunter replied with a smirk. He sauntered up to the door, twirled his hammer in one hand and then smashed it into the door with all his strength, backed up by his Aura and Semblance.

The door, made of reinforced steel and four inches thick, stood absolutely no chance.

It practically flew from its place in the doorframe and screeched to a halt along the passage just short of the next door along. Heaving his weapon atop one shoulder, Taiyang grinned and strolled into the building nonchalantly, as if he owned the place.

Glynda shook her head as she followed him. "Men…all of them are kids, I swear."

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 _Drug lab, Infirmary, Beacon Academy_

Doctor Peach slid the three vials of blood from Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna into the mixing device with a relieved sigh. Now that the antidote was at this stage, all that was needed to do was mix in the donor blood and it would be ninety-percent complete.

The antidote to the Mistilteinn poison, Váli, was made of a combination of rare herbs, chemical compounds and several other ingredients that required a day to safely combine. It could then be frozen, ready to defrost and have the blood of someone else added as the penultimate ingredient.

Miriam Strauss had turned the full might of her genius to the creation of this formula and had even created alternate formulae for the eventuality that one or more of the ingredients became extinct or was otherwise unobtainable.

' _Poor woman._ ' Peach thought sadly, ' _She lost her husband, lost her children, her sanity, her self-respect…she was probably glad to end it all once this was finished._ '

As a practitioner of medicine, Peach would never advocate suicide. Her duty was to save lives and heal the injured, first and foremost. Still, when she looked at the case of Miriam Strauss…the woman had lost everything that she loved and her good name had been lost thanks to the poison she had been forced to create. The combination of grief, guilt and despair must have been too much for her to bear.

It had been many years since she had had cause to look up the creator of the Mistilteinn and Váli formulae, but Peach felt nothing more than pity for her. War had stolen everything from her and had left her name blackened beyond recovery and for what? One man's pride and arrogance.

She glanced at the mixer and pressed the button to add the three blood samples. As the red liquid drained into the mixture, Peach laid curses upon Hans Schwarzkopf and whoever had made the Mistilteinn that was keyed to Ruby Rose.

"Two more hours…" she muttered.

 _Back at the Greenhouse…_

"Dorya!" Taiyang roared as he slammed his hammer into the midsection of the Spider Droid, sending the van-sized robot back a couple of meters. It was in appalling shape, to the point that it was a wonder that the automaton was still functional. All but one of its cannons had been destroyed, there were holes all over its chassis and one of the legs was hanging together with a hope and a prayer.

Really, Taiyang was taking his time with the robot, playing with it to relieve his anger. It was in no way a suitable opponent for him; it was far too weak.

Glynda had slipped past the two combatants at the start of the battle and was currently engaged in breaking the firewalls that protected the computer system of the base.

' _Suppose I'd better finish up._ ' Tai thought reluctantly.

He absently dodged a blast from the cannon and grabbed the handle of his hammer with both hands. Time for the finale.

Taiyang charged at the Spider Droid and leapt into the air. He brought his hammer back before pressing a button on the side of the handle that armed the explosive head in the business end of the weapon.

"See ya never!" Tai roared as he slammed his weapon home with the sound of crumpling metal right in the centre of the Spider Droid's torso. With a metallic 'clunk', the head of his hammer disconnected and Taiyang beat feet away from the robot.

Seconds later, the explosive in the centre of the head left behind blew up, destroying the last defender of the Schnee Greenhouse and sending shards of it all over the hall. A few even bounced off of Taiyang's Aura Shield.

Nodding in satisfaction, Tai headed for the command centre. He was confused as to why a greenhouse, even a super secret one like this, had a command centre, but he put it down to the Schnee Family believing in using a facility for multiple purposes in mind.

As he entered the room that was marked as the command centre, Glynda sat at a computer station and had her hands darting across the keyboard as she hacked the system.

"Finished playing with your toy already?" she asked absently.

"Stop making me sound like a cat." Tai retorted, "Not cracked it yet?"

"The Schnee Family employs some of the best software engineers on the planet, Taiyang." Glynda replied bitingly, "Cracking it will take time. As it is, I am almost done, actually. You spent almost fifteen minutes playing around with that droid, you know."

She tapped a few more keys before grinning. "I'm in. let's see here…dearie me, this is irritating."

The screen was full of folders with seemingly no order or common sense to the layout.

"What idiot organised this? Honestly." Glynda huffed, "Let's see here…"

She rapidly typed some commands in and the layout was neatened considerably.

"Better now…where are you…aha. There you are." Glynda muttered as she scanned the names of the files. Clicking on one labelled 'List of Specimens', she found an alphabetical list of all of the plants held inside the greenhouse.

"Oh dear." the blond woman said after scanning the list, "Oh dear."

"What?" Taiyang asked impatiently.

"At least seventy percent of the plants here are either on the Blacklist or otherwise illegal." Glynda said in disbelief, "All of them are ingredients to one illegal drug, poison or gas or another. Dreamrose, Nightweed, Blumenkranz, Cat's Eye, Hexenritter, Wolfstar Moss…the list goes on."

As she spoke, Glynda opened her Scroll and downloaded the list to it as evidence, as well as the pictures provided by another file.

"Tai go and destroy them." Glynda said, her hands dancing across the keyboard again, "Each plant is housed in its own separate room, so I'm unlocking all of the doors to the ones that are to be destroyed."

"Great, time for the grunt work." Tai grunted, "I'll destroy the Blumenkranz first. Send the directions to my Scroll."

"Roger that." Glynda acknowledged, "I'll be sealing these doors after you leave in case any AK-130's are still crawling around, so don't be alarmed."

"Gotcha." Tai nodded, "Well, I'm off to do my thing."

With that, he sauntered out of the room, the doors sliding shut silently behind him.

Distraction gone, Glynda started to search the database for any more relevant pieces of information, such as the most burning question…who the last person to enter this facility was before her and Taiyang was, as that would give a strong indication of who had been responsible for poisoning Ruby Rose.

"'Last Visitor: Unknown female.'" Glynda read the log with a frown, "That's odd…"

She brought up a visual log of the person in question. She had tanned skin and wore ochre clothes. That was all the information she could glean from the video, as the intruder had worn a hood and facemask to prevent someone from identifying them.

"She entered via an air duct…walked to the Blumenkranz room and took a clipping…then left the same way she entered, closing the duct behind her." the Professor mused as she watched the footage from the tape, "Let's see…this was one week ago…so someone found out about this place and sent a thief to steal a clipping of the Blumenkranz flower specifically for the purpose of poisoning Ruby…this clinches it. It has to be Torchwick."

It was the only thing that made sense. Schwarz Schnee had no reason to sneak around in his own facility; rather, his pride and arrogance would prevent him from doing something as sneaky as this, as he was firmly convinced that little things like laws and the like were things that happened to other people.

Yang Xiao Long would blow her gasket when she found this out…as would Tai, come to think of it.

Glynda made a note to not tell him who had poisoned his daughter until she had Qrow around to calm him down.

 _Back at Beacon…_

"I'll need you three to come with me." Peach informed the three tired girls who were standing guard outside Ruby's room.

"And leave my baby sis unguarded? Hell no." Yang rejected the doctor's request immediately.

"Even if it's to help finish the antidote that will cure your sister?" the doctor countered easily.

"And for the record, I'll be temporarily taking your place as Ruby's guard." Qrow added, making the three girls jump again.

"Dammit, again with the stalker Semblance!" Yang muttered.

"Presence Assassination." Qrow countered.

"What exactly will we have to do?" Weiss asked Peach as she ignored the squabbling niece and uncle comedy duo next to her.

"The antidote has been fully synthesised, but one crucial step remains…an infusion of Aura from those who donated blood." Peach explained, "That's what will ultimately expunge the poison from Miss Rose's body and allow her Aura to heal her damage."

"OK." Blake nodded, "Lead the way."

"I don't want to leave my sister!" Yang protested.

"Yang, if anyone gets by me, they'll be very, very lucky." the grey-haired man said seriously, "Trust me. Ruby will be fine, so go and help Doctor Peach finish the antidote."

"OK…" Yang took one more look at Ruby, who was still whining with pain, before following her teammates and Doctor Peach.

 _Doctor Peach's Office_

"So this is the antidote?" Yang asked sceptically.

The Váli serum was little more than a test tube full of a black liquid with three thin steel rods inserted into it. Peach gave a thin piece of metallic string to each of the girls, each of which was attached to one of the rods.

"What you have to do now is channel your Aura into the string and then down the rods and into the serum." Peach informed the girls, "More than that, you have to concentrate on Miss Rose as you do so."

"Why?" Blake asked

"It is partially the emotions infused into the Aura that drives out the poison." Peach replied, "While you channel your Aura and concentrate on what you know of Ruby Rose, those feelings are infused into the serum. As you can see now, the serum is black. Once you have infused the serum, it will be crimson red in colour."

"OK…" Weiss said uncertainly.

"It'll be fine, Miss Schnee." Peach said, guessing what she was worried about, "Miss Rose will not be able to receive the feelings in the serum."

Weiss blushed like a tomato at being so easily read, while Blake smirked and Yang laughed.

"Princess, Rubes already knows you like her as a friend" the blond teased her teammate, "Or are there OTHER feelings that you don't want her to know about, eh?"

"YANG!" Weiss shrieked, as her blush redoubled, "Don't be ridiculous! How could I have any feelings other than platonic ones for that dolt?! The very idea is absurd!"

"Methinks the Princess doth protest too much." Yang smirked.

"I hate to say it, but she does have a point, Weiss." Blake said with a twitch of her ears under her bow.

"Ahem. Girls." Peach coughed, "Can we please put the discussion of whether Miss Schnee has any lesbian romantic intentions towards Miss Rose off until after the antidote is completed?"

The doctor's blunt words made Weiss' blush redouble yet again.

"Sure, sure." Yang nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." Blake agreed.

"Someone kill me now…" Weiss muttered despondently.

"OK, now please begin." Peach said.

Yang started, channelling her yellow and orange Aura down the wire and into the antidote. She thought of Ruby, her sweet, innocent baby sister, who wanted nothing more than to help people and follow in her mother's footsteps. She remembered all the time they had spent together as kids, with Ruby following her around and idolising her. All her love for her sister was transmitted into her Aura and the serum.

Blake focussed on everything she knew about Ruby. Her insatiable appetite for cookies, her love of books that rivalled Blake's own, the energetic enthusiasm that was both irritating and endearing at the same time and how she showed no prejudice against Faunus whatsoever. Blake's quiet support for her leader was transmitted to the serum with her dark purple Aura.

Finally, Weiss started channelling her light blue Aura to the serum. She remembered the first time she had seen Ruby and her first impression of her…a ditzy klutz. How that had changed slightly during Initiation and had changed, even more once she found out how Ruby had been studying so seriously. How, despite her protestations and cold attitude, the red-cloaked girl had managed to wear her down and make Weiss care about someone other than her sister for the first time in a long, long while.

The intermixing Auras of orangey-yellow, dark purple and light blue clashed and intermingled until abruptly, the serum changed colour to a light crimson red, almost the same shade as blood.

"Stop!" Peach commanded, making the girls cease their Aura channelling.

"Wow…that looks like a vial of blood." Yang said uneasily.

"It's actually the same shade as blood, but tastes more disgusting, I'm afraid." Peach replied as she removed the rods from the vial and put a stopper in the opening, "This will not be pleasant for her, taste wise, nor will the process of detoxification. I would seriously advise that you three not watch what she's going to be going through…It will be nothing short of agonising to watch."

The three members of Team RWBY exchanged glances and nodded.

"We have to watch." Weiss spoke up softly, "How can we not when Ruby might need us?"

"It'll be a good reminder to be more careful with her." Yang growled, "I am not going through this a third time. No way."

"We have decided, Doctor." Blake said firmly.

Peach pursed her lips and debated arguing, but gave up when she saw the determination in their eyes. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you!"

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 **Next Chapter: Soothing Ice**

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	7. Soothing Ice

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 7: Soothing Ice**

 _Command Centre, Schnee Family Rare Plants Facility_

Glynda grimaced as she watched Taiyang destroyed yet another illegal plant on the screen. She had almost lost count of the number he had destroyed by this point. What had the Schnee Family been thinking when they had built this facility? They must have known that one day it would be discovered.

-{ _Glynda, that's another one taken care of._ }- Taiyang reported, -{ _Moving to the next one now._ }-

"Roger that, Tai." the Professor replied. She hesitated before adding in, "Tai…around about now, Ruby will be having the antidote administered to her."

-{ _My poor little rosebud…_ }- Tai said sadly, -{ _From what I remember reading, it's…agonising, isn't it?_ }-

"Yes." Glynda said, "But your daughters are made of stern stuff; I am certain that Ruby will endure it."

-{ _Just one more reason to burn the bastard who did this into ashes._ }- Taiyang growled.

"Agreed. Now, get going to the next plant." Glynda said firmly.

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 _Ruby Rose's Room, Infirmary, Beacon Academy_

"Err…doctor? What's that?" Ruby asked as she eyed the odd-looking necklace that Doctor Peach had taken out of a locked box and was holding very gingerly.

"This is an Aura Inhibitor." Peach told her seriously, "When you put this on, you will be cut off from your Aura…completely."

"EH?!" Ruby yelped. She hadn't been cut off from her Aura since the day Yang had unlocked it for her. The thought of going without it was terrifying. "Why do I have to have my Aura locked out?!"

"Because otherwise the pain you feel will be magnified from merely agonising to unbearable." Peach replied, "Once the antidote is administered, your Aura will clash with not only the Mistilteinn, but with the antidote if it isn't suppressed, which will make it a three-way fight inside of your body and draw things out to an unacceptable amount of time. The records are very clear on this."

"But…I thought it was impossible to completely suppress a person's Aura?" Ruby said in confusion.

"It is…this Inhibitor suppresses ninety percent of your Aura." Peach nodded, "The remaining ten percent is what causes the pain. Even then, once you put it on, the Inhibitor can only last for half a day, at best, which is why we haven't used it on you before now."

"O…Ok…" Ruby nodded meekly.

Peach gently clipped the steel necklace around the young girl's neck before stepping back.

"Next, we have to restrain your limbs." Peach said, "In the past, victims have trashed and injured themselves amidst the pain, so…"

Reluctantly, Ruby allowed her arms and legs to be secured by strong looking manacles with padded interiors to prevent undue harm to the wearer.

"Finally…this." Peach held up a thick leather strap.

"What's that for?" Ruby asked in trepidation.

"For you to bite on." Peach replied solemnly, "It'll stop you from screaming or biting your tongue."

"Will…will it be that bad?" the brunette asked hesitantly.

"It will." Peach confirmed, "I wish it were otherwise, but it is the only way to remove the Mistilteinn safely. If left to work its way out of your system naturally, your body would be damaged to the point that even your Aura wouldn't be able to fully heal you. Your organs and muscles would be badly damaged, to the point that you may never be a Huntress."

This made Ruby pale and she willingly accepted the strap into her mouth as Peach placed the antidote into a syringe gun and set it to inject rather than draw.

"OK Miss Rose…this is where it starts." Peach said as she pressed the needle into Ruby's upper arm, "For what it's worth…I'm sorry."

With a squeeze of the trigger, Peach injected Ruby Rose with the antidote. She quickly cleansed it and put a bandage over it before retreating from the room.

Ruby stiffened as her arm started to feel warm, then hot…then scorching. That feeling had her writhing uncomfortably, but when it spread to the rest of her body, the pain grew and Ruby screamed into the strip of leather as the sensation of being microwaved from the inside out magnified itself when Mistilteinn met Váli.

 _Outside the Room…_

Yang watched her sister screaming and writhing in pain and felt sick to her stomach. She was supposed to protect Ruby from pain, to never let this kind of thing happen to her. And what happened? She let her guard down and her sister is almost assassinated. Now she's screaming with pain and she was helpless to help Ruby yet again.

Next to the blonde, Blake felt her cat ears flatten to reflect her internal distress. She had left the White Fang because she hated seeing humans suffering, regardless of their bigotry. Ruby was a sweet girl who had no discrimination against the Faunus race. She didn't deserve this kind of pain, less so than any other human she had ever encountered.

On Yang's other side, Weiss was having a hard time controlling her expression. She had been used to the idea that she would be alone, because of the White Fang and other rich families who wanted her dead. She had even encouraged it by acting like a haughty bitch and pushing people away.

She had been seven when someone died in front of her from poison. One of her father's business partners had been poisoned by Night's Breath, which killed within seconds. He had eaten a canapé and was enjoying it, before he vomited blood up and died.

She had almost eaten one of those canapés. Just a handful of seconds more and she would have been dead.

The same thing could have happened here. Ruby usually persuaded her to have at least one cookie during their private studying sessions, unless they were doing one of Professor Port's essays. If she'd started with another subject, Weiss could have ended up in a similar situation.

' _What are you thinking!?_ ' she scolded herself in horror, ' _Being glad that it was just Ruby to get poisoned? What kind of a selfish monster am I?!_ '

Ruby was her first friend in a long, long time and she had promised Ruby that she would be the best teammate possible. A Schnee never broke an oath once given and so she would change. Change from a selfish bitch to the best teammate she had promised her leader.

Still, this was impossibly hard to watch. Ruby was writhing as if she was being tortured, her eyes bulging and her screams muffled by the leather strap she had in her mouth. She could see Ruby biting hard into it.

"Damn whoever orchestrated this." she said coldly.

"Agreed." Blake said, her voice cracking, "How can she bear it?"

"Because she, like her mother and sister, is a true Huntress." Qrow said as he stared at the pain-wracked form of his youngest niece emotionlessly, "She is enduring this because it is the only way to return to being a Huntress, her dream. Ozzy didn't just let her in because she beat up Torchwick, you know. He has the ability to see the hidden talent sleeping inside of someone. He let her in two years early because he knew she could handle it…though I don't think he was expecting her to have to endure this."

"No, I didn't." Ozpin said as he walked briskly into the room and stood next to Qrow, "Nevertheless, Miss Rose is enduring this far better than I could have expected her to."

"She shouldn't _have_ to endure this!" Yang hissed angrily, her eyes turning red, "I really hope you're plugging those holes, Professor. I do not want this to happen to my sis ever again."

"And you can rest assured, Miss Xiao Long, that I am doing so." Ozpin said with a nod, "I have done my best to ensure that, while Beacon's grounds may not be proof against Grimm, they are proof against more sophisticated infiltration. Now that the security has been proven compromised, I am finally able to prove that upgrades are needed and can wrest full control of Beacon's finances from the Vale Council. And of course, all available resources will be devoted to finding the perpetrator behind Miss Rose's poisoning."

"Good." Yang said shortly as she returned her gaze to her suffering sister, her hands clenching and unclenching as she worked her frustration off that way.

"How long will this last?" Blake asked quietly.

"At least half an hour." Ozpin replied equally quietly, "The exact time varies from person to person, but Miss Rose did ingest quite a large amount of poison-laced cookies, so I'm afraid it could be as long as an hour."

"Ruby…!" Yang whimpered, tears' falling from her eyes as her sister was wracked by another bout of pain.

Blake hesitated for a moment before drawing the usually irrepressible brawler into a hug. PDA wasn't really her thing, but anyone could see that Yang needed some kind of comfort and Weiss was even worse at these kinds of things than she was.

Yang clung to Blake as muffled sobs burst free. She had been keeping them in for over a day and couldn't keep them contained now that she had someone to hold her. She could be strong for Ruby, but being strong for herself was another thing, especially when her sister was suffering right before her eyes and she was helpless to do anything about it!

"I swear that whomsoever poisoned Ruby will feel my blade." Weiss ground out, unaware of the tears that fell from her eyes as she spoke, "So I promise as a Schnee."

The next forty-five minutes were pure torture for Ruby's teammates to watch as their teammate suffered from the antidote battling with the poison within her body. She tried to move her limbs, but they were held down by the restraints.

Eventually, Peach re-entered the room, a look of pain on her face, as well as tear tracks on her cheeks. She went over to Ruby and, with some difficulty, ran some tests on the thrashing girl before exiting the room and walking over to Yang and the others.

"The poison is in remission." she reported wearily, "Soon, it'll retreat back to the place that it entered Miss Rose's body."

"Her stomach?!" Weiss wrinkled her nose at that.

"Wait…you don't plan on making her throw up the poison, do you?" Blake asked in revulsion.

"Nope; another stomach pump." Peach replied, "It'll take about ten minutes to get the poison out…there was only about ten cookies in that packet, and she only ate nine of them, so the initial amount of poison should be quite small, even if it's self-replicating."

"You make it sound less like a drug and more like a type of man-made bacteria." Weiss remarked.

"In a manner of speaking, it is somewhat similar to bacteria." Peach allowed, "It is more insidious and deadly and isn't in any way alive, but it does spread itself like bacteria."

"Doctor Peach, how much longer until you can remove the poison?" Ozpin asked.

"Ten minutes, give or take a minute or so." Peach replied with a sigh, "Honestly…this girl. Just how concentrated was the poison that she was given? The record length of time eighty years ago was thirty minutes, and that was for a Major in the Vale Army!"

"That's my niece, always breaking boundaries." Qrow said with a short chuckle.

"Doctor…will there be any lingering effects from this?" Yang asked.

"Hmm…she'll be weak for a while." the doctor replied after a moment, "She'll have to take it easy, as in no combat practice and no heavy lifting, for at least a fortnight while her Aura focuses on repairing her damaged internal organs and muscles. Of that, she'll be in the infirmary receiving healing from my Semblance once a day for the first week. During that time, she will be totally helpless. Other than that, there should be no adverse effects."

"She won't be helpless, because we will be with her as much as possible." Weiss said sharply.

"Damn right, Princess." Yang agreed vehemently.

Blake merely nodded firmly in agreement with her teammates.

"It's always good to see my decisions play out for the best." Ozpin remarked quietly to Qrow, "I just wish it hadn't taken this sort of event to bring it to the surface."

Qrow nodded.

 _Same Time…_

 _Unknown Location…_

"Shit." Roman Torchwick cursed mildly upon hearing the information from one of his informants inside Beacon.

The orange-haired criminal had taken a big risk by paying that irritating thief girl Emerald to steal the last ingredient of the Mistilteinn poison that had cost his boss, Cinder Fall, a lot of time and money to acquire. She hadn't planned on using it quite yet, so he'd had to improvise.

Fortunately, Emerald Sustrai's loyalty to Cinder was equal to her loyalty to her bottom line, so bribing the impudent little bitch to do a job for him hadn't been hard. Coercing a chemist with enough skill to make the poison had been far harder to do.

As to why he had done all this? The answer was one Ruby Rose, known as Red to Torchwick. She had interfered twice in his operations. Once at From Dust 'till Dawn and the second time at the Vale Docks. Admittedly, the second time had been more that odd Penny girl and the Kitty Cat than Red, but she had been there.

Torchwick had been so successful in the criminal underworld due to his habit of killing off enemies before they could become problematic. Two interferences in his plans and he turned his mind to how to destroy them. He had decided that irony would be best suited for little Red and how much more ironic could it be than to kill her off with her favourite treat as the delivery system.

Unfortunately, she apparently had the luck of the devil, because she _still_ wasn't dead. One of the strongest and deadliest poisons on Remnant and she still refused to die. How typical.

"You and you." Torchwick pointed at two members of the White Fang nearby, a horse Faunus and a cat Faunus, "Gear up a squad for an assassination mission. Make it quick."

"Sir." they said and hurried off.

"Well Red. Let's see how your luck holds. Will it be two for two, I wonder?" he mused aloud.

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 _The Next Day_

 _Infirmary_

"On you go." Peach smiled as she let the three members of Team RWBY into the Infirmary's main ward, "Fifteen minutes only though. She's exhausted."

"Understood, doctor." Blake said as she led her teammates into the room.

"And Miss Xiao Long!" Peach added, "Your sister is far too fragile for your usual level of hugging, so no bear hugs."

"I'll treat her like crystal." Yang promised fervently. The three walked to the far side of the infirmary, where a small brunette was reading her Scroll.

"Guys!" Ruby looked up from her device in happiness at seeing her friends.

"Hey sis." Yang said as she sat on Ruby's bed and drew her sister into the first hug they had shared in almost two days, "You scared me."

"Sorry." Ruby returned the hug weakly, "You know I wouldn't worry you if I could help it, Yang."

"I know…but…this is the closest I've come to losing you…since then." Yang sniffed, "Not having you around…the thought terrifies me."

"We'll always be together Yang. I promised you that when you promised me the same thing." the scythe wielder said soothingly, "That is…if you still want me around…?"

Shocked, Yang looked into Ruby's eyes and saw honest uncertainty in them. Just like they had after the one and only time she had left Ruby alone when she was sick. She had desperately asked if Yang didn't want her anymore.

"Idiot." Yang gently touched her forehead to Ruby's own, "You're my adorable little sister. I love you and I will never, _ever_ not want to be with you. Get that into your head, Ruby Rose."

"Thank you…" Ruby whispered with a small tear falling down her cheek at her beloved elder sister's answer.

Yang squeezed her lightly before getting but and letting Blake in.

"Hey Ruby." the cat Faunus said with a small smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Considering I should be dead, pretty good." Ruby replied with a tired shrug, "I still feel like I've been used as a football by an Ursa Alpha though."

"Ouch." Yang winced at that.

"Well, I brought you some books to help you pass the time." Blake took out three thick books from her bag, "All of them are your favourite genre as well."

"Oh, thanks!" Ruby's eyes shined as she accepted the books, "I've been reading on my scroll, but I've wanted something new to read."

Blake smirked as she stepped back. Ruby was almost as big a book lover as she was and her favourite genre wasn't too hard to figure out…hero's who did good deeds and saved the day…Fantasy, in other words.

Lastly, Weiss stepped forward and just looked at Ruby for a moment before hugging her as well, much to Ruby's wide-eyed surprise.

"You dolt." Weiss whispered in a trembling voice, "Don't you ever do that again, do you hear?"

"S-Sorry Weiss." Ruby apologised automatically.

"Dunce. Why are you apologising?" the Schnee Heiress said harshly, "The correct answer is 'I will not get poisoned and almost die in front of you, Weiss.'"

"I'll try." Ruby replied as she weakly reached up and wiped the tears that had started to fall from her partner's eyes, "But you do know that poisons are usually used because they're hard to find, right?"

Weiss pulled out her Scroll and tapped a few keys. "I've just transferred a list of all known poisons on Remnant, including their distinguishing characteristics and how to detect them by sight, smell or taste, to your Scroll. You will memorise it."

"Yes Weiss." Ruby said quickly as the ice-blue eyes of her partner bored into her, "S-so how have you all been?"

"Worried out of our minds for you." Yang said flatly, "Just so ya know, at least one of us'll be with you all day from here on out."

"Why?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"Ruby, the poison used on you was illegal." Blake said gently, "And right now, you can barely life your Scroll, let alone Crescent Rose. If Torchwick or whoever it was that ordered this done sends someone to try and finish you…you'd be helpless. So we'll be rotating guard duty on you, approved by Professor Ozpin himself."

"Thanks." Ruby smiled at her friends and sister happily, "Who's first?"

"That'd be the Princess." Yang said, smacking Weiss on the back hard enough to drive the air from her lungs.

"Y-You brute!" Weiss choked out.

"Man, that's just _Weiss_ cold!" Yang complained cheerfully.

"Dammit, Yang!" Ruby, Blake and Weiss groaned in unison.

After a few more minutes of conversation and Yang's bad puns, Doctor Peach chased Blake and Ruby's sister out of the Infirmary. Weiss sat down on the chair next to the bed and pulled out some notes from the days she had missed class.

"Um…Weiss?" Ruby said shyly.

"Yes?" the alabaster-haired girl asked.

"Umm…a-about our room…" Ruby trailed off.

"Because Blake is a Faunus, the staff used some very powerful deodorisers to remove the scent of blood from everything." Weiss said gently, "We also have a new desk."

"O-oh…good." Ruby said awkwardly.

"How are you coping with everything that's happened, Ruby?" Weiss asked after a moment, "You put on a good front for Yang and Blake, but…"

She trailed off. Ruby took a breath.

"I…I'm not sure." she said, "I've never imagined that someone could be so spiteful as to poison me. I only want to help people. I don't know how I should feel here."

"Angry? Scared?" Weiss suggested, "I certainly would be…and currently am."

"Huh?" Ruby looked nonplussed.

"Ruby…I haven't had a friend in years." Weiss said softly, "Because anyone who got close to me was either attacked or had an alternate motive for doing so. I kept people away by being a bitch, because it was better than feeling pain when they either fled in fear or were discovered to be false friends.

Then…you turned up. Constantly cheerful, constantly irritating and endearing at the same time and constantly wearing me down until…I started to think of you as a friend."

"Weiss…" Ruby said in a choked manner.

"You are the first friend I have reluctantly had in years and you almost died." Weiss said shakily, "I am angry and scared and lot of other things at the moment. I'm angry that you were almost killed, angry that someone was cowardly enough to not face you head on to do it, scared that you almost died and scared that someone could kill you in the future."

"Do…you still want to be friends with me?" Ruby asked in a small voice.

"Against my better judgement, yes." Weiss said with a sigh. It was true. Though the part of herself that had guarded her emotions for years was screaming to push Ruby Rose away and rebuild the wall of ice that kept her that way, the emotional part of herself cried out against that and won.

"I promised to be the best teammate you could hope for and abandoning our…friendship…" she said the word as if it were a foreign concept to her, "…because of this wouldn't be befitting a member of the Schnee family. Just…don't die. Please?"

This last was said in such a small voice that Ruby struggled up and hugged Weiss, finally knowing why the alabaster-haired girl had seemed so lonely. She had been afraid of getting close to anyone because of trauma in her past.

"I promise to do my best." Ruby said simply, "I won't leave you willingly, Weiss. We're teammates and partners…and more importantly, friends."

The smile that lit Weiss' face was fleeting, but proved that the so-called 'Ice Queen' of the First Years was willing to open up to Ruby and that made being poisoned worth it, despite the pain and loneliness Ruby had gone through.

"Now go to sleep, dolt." the Schnee Heiress ordered briskly, "You need to recover and sleeping is the best way to do that."

"Yeeeesss~" Ruby sang as she snuggled down with a smile on her face, "Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks you. Thank you for being my friend." Ruby said simply before she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep. Weiss stared down at her with wide eyes for a moment. No one had ever thanked her for being their friend. Cursed and wailed, yes, but thanked her? Never.

A small smile graced her face as she whispered, "Dolt. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

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 **Next Chapter: Shadows in the Moonlight**

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	8. Shadows in the Moonlight

**Author's Note: Chapter 8 here. One more chapter and the epilogue to go before I finish a story, which I didn't think would happen for quite some time. Enjoy.**

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 8: Shadows in the Moonlight**

 _That Night_

 _Ozpin's Office_

" _Fifty_ illegal plants." Ozpin stated in mild disbelief, "The sheer arrogance of the Schnee Family disgusts me."

"Agreed." Qrow nodded, "Tai -he went back to Patch to pick up Zwei, by the way. I think having him nearby will help Ruby- he said that some looked like they had been there for ages…"

"Nearly all of them were originally from cuttings taken shortly after the Treaty of Vytal was signed." Glynda replied from where she was perusing her Scroll, "That facility had originally been intended as an emergency bunker for the Schnee Family, but was repurposed after the war as a biotic plant facility. It was ordered by Rothaarige Schnee, the then Head of the Schnee Family. When Schwarz Schnee took over from his father, the staff was replaced with automated systems and regularly updated and maintained by a few highly trusted and highly paid men. The AK-130's were deployed at the same time as the Spider Droid, four years ago. It is apparently labelled as a defunct research facility that was mothballed years ago in the main SDC database."

"So the facility wasn't so much unknown, it was difficult to find and kept to an uninteresting category within the SDC database so nobody could find it." Ozpin summarised, "And that trusted personnel were performing maintenance on the droids and systems inside the base. That means that the Schnee Family, Schwarz, Winter and Weiss, as well as upwards of about thirty other people who are still alive, knew about the facility prior to yesterday."

"Add in fifty other people for every person and it's easy to see how whoever this thief's paymaster was got ahold of this information." Qrow said, gesturing at a still image of the thief in question, "Typical Schwarz; he focuses so much on the location and physical security that he neglects the word of mouth."

"Still…this is perplexing." Ozpin said with a frown, "Beacon, or rather ANY Hunter Academy, is the worst place to use such a poison as Mistilteinn. We know how to reduce its effects, how to concoct an antidote for it and what steps are needed to eliminate it once out of a person's system. All in in all, this was a stupid move. All carrying out this plan has done is tip their hand and allowed us to remove a piece from the board."

"Agreed, which makes it more likely that it was Torchwick that was behind this." Qrow stated, "He has no idea about the Black Eleven Protocols, no clue how much trouble this'll put him in and all the petty spite to use Ruby's favourite treats as a delivery system for the poison."

"Shall I put out a notice for his arrest?" Glynda asked Ozpin.

"Not yet." the man demurred, "I want Miss Rose fully able to protect herself before doing so. Besides, he is already wanted for multiple counts of robbery, fraud, extortion, ABH, GBH and the like, so adding attempted murder will not change much."

"I was more thinking about violating the Treaty of Vytal." Glynda shot back dryly, "That would allow the Hunter Corps to hunt the worm of a man day and night until he's either dead or in custody. I would prefer the former to the latter, but we can't have everything."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow slightly at his deputy's bloodthirsty nature, but put it down to the fact she was fonder of Ruby Rose than she let on.

"Yeah, but that would also tip off whoever is _Torchwick's_ paymaster that her pawn is now useless." Qrow pointed out.

"What makes you believe that Torchwick isn't working for the White Fang of his own will?" Ozpin asked, playing Devil's Advocate.

"He's infamous for being an anti-Faunus bigot." the other man snorted dismissively, "He is _also_ well known for being willing to put that to one side if offered enough money. No, he's just another pawn in this game, one that has overstepped his bounds to boot. He's going to do one of three things when the 'Queen' finds out what he pulled; run, die or spew enough verbal bullshit to spare his life. If it's the first two, he'll be out of our hair either temporarily or for good. If it's the latter, he'll be walking on eggshells."

The Headmaster nodded, agreeing with all of Qrow's points. From what little the Silent Reaper had unearthed about the mysterious 'Queen' that had taken over the White Fang recently, she did not suffer fools whatsoever; the number of Faunus corpses that had been burned into so much charcoal discovered recently had made that abundantly clear.

"How's Amber, by the way?" Qrow asked.

"Still comatose in the Vault." Ozpin replied with a frown, "It would seem that having part of her power of the Fall Maiden drained from her has rendered her insensate for an indefinite period of time...the life support machinery is the only thing keeping her alive."

"So we know part of this 'Queen' character's ultimate objective…finish draining Amber's power." Qrow said with a frown, "Have you alerted the other three Maidens of possible attacks?"

"I have, through highly covert means that even you cannot know of." the coffee addict replied, "Although it is doubtful that this Queen plans to drain all four Maiden powers into herself. The sheer amount of energy would tear her apart within seconds, and she is doubtless too paranoid to trust her pawns with that power, so I think she'll try to settle for killing the other three and displace their powers to inexperienced hosts."

"How did this 'Queen' even find out about the Maidens of the Four Seasons in the first place?" Glynda asked, "They were common knowledge hundreds of years ago, but currently only a handful even know about them, a group even smaller and more select than those who know about the Individual Eleven poisons."

The office was silent at that. The Maidens of the Four Seasons were supposedly the embodiment of the seasons, wielding great powers beyond any Hunter or Huntress that made Semblances and Dust spells look like child's toys by comparison. The thought of someone with the ruthlessness that this Queen showed bearing any one of the Maiden's powers was a chilling one.

"What's the likelihood the Queen will get her hands on Amber's power if she dies?" Qrow asked after a moment.

"Nearly a hundred out of a hundred." Ozpin replied, "Either the power will go to her as she was the last person on Amber's mind before she lost consciousness or the power will seek out its missing part. Both cases are…suboptimal."

"I'll say." Qrow snorted.

"Therefore, I am, reluctantly, forced to consider transferring the Maiden of Fall's powers to another being by methods technological." Ozpin said with a sip of his coffee, "Atlesian technology can do this, so one must think of the eventual vessel. They have to be of a similar age to the current vessel and powerful. Before this incident, there were two choices…Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose. Now I _must_ choose Pyrrha, as Ruby will not be recovered sufficiently in time to be a possible candidate."

"Are you sure, Ozzy?" Qrow asked doubtfully, "Pyrrha may be powerful, but even slightly diminished as Amber's Maiden powers are, the powers of a Maiden of the Seasons are no laughing matter to control. There's also no guarantee that there won't be repercussions from attempting a partial, not to mention artificial, transfer. You could ruin her life, Ozzy, and for _no gain_ whatsoever."

"I am aware of that." Ozpin said heavily as he stood up and strode over to the window, "Miss Nikos' abilities would be missed…but the attempt must be made. Amber is currently too vulnerable, even in a hidden location as she is. Our foe seems well accustomed to ferreting out secrets. The Maiden of Fall's powers must be transferred to someone who can use them to defend herself, and Pyrrha is the greatest female warrior of her generation. She was my preferred choice anyway; I feel that I have inconvenienced Miss Rose enough by having her come here two years early."

"Don't flatter yourself; Ruby doesn't see it as a burden." Qrow dismissed the man's worry with a wave of one hand, "Hell, she's _grateful_ that she can learn so much about being a Huntress so early on in her life. She hasn't stopped chasing Summer's back since she vanished and I think being at Signal for two more years would have just bored her. She'd learned everything she needed to know already and she can't use Dust worth a damn anyway, which is what most of the last two years focuses on, so really, you did her a favour."

"I worry about her." Glynda admitted, "Other than modifying that monster of a weapon, training, studying and eating cookies, she hardly has any hobbies. Even the Fourth Years get out and do more than she does. I'm concerned she might burn out."

"That's why Hunters and Huntresses have teams, Glynda." Ozpin said as he turned around, "With Miss Xiao Long on her team, Miss Rose will doubtlessly be reined in before such a thing occurs, especially with this recent scare."

"I suppose so…" the blond teacher said with a sigh before she yawned slightly.

"Let us adjourn for the night." Ozpin said as he walked over to his desk once more, "Burning the midnight oil isn't going to change the reality of the situation and I have a feeling I'll be receiving a call from Schwarz Schnee in the wee hours of the morning."

"Better you than me." Qrow snorted as he and Glynda headed for the door.

Once the two were gone, Ozpin picked up his Scroll and typed out a message.

-{ _King's Rook to E4. Checkmate White King._ }-

Sending it, he only had to wait two minutes before his Scroll beeped and he received a reply.

-{ _King's Rook to E4 Acknowledged. Request Castling post-Checkmate_ }-

-{ _Denied. Post-Checkmate, engage Perpetual Check until otherwise ordered._ }-

-{ _Acknowledged._ }-

The headmaster put his Scroll down and sighed. 'King's Rook' was an agent he trusted almost as much as Qrow, with a significant axe to grind against the Schnee Family to boot. The task he had just issued would no doubt make his agent very happy, which would hopefully counterbalance the anger the agent would no doubt feel for having 'Castling' denied.

Finishing his coffee, Ozpin picked up his cane and headed to his own quarters, as everything he had said to his compatriots was true. He really didn't want to have to deal with the Head of the SDC without having at least _some_ rest.

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 _Midnight_

 _Cliffside Ruins, Emerald Forest_

Chartreuse Blanc, a Persian cat Faunus, had joined up with the White Fang two years ago and he was wondering what the heck was going on right now. Why were he and his fellow Faunus obeying the orders of a _human_?

He had joined up with the White Fang because he was tired of enduring those damn sneers and contemptful attitudes that humans gave to his kind, so having to follow the orders of a snotty bastard of a criminal human was just a bit much for him.

"Blanc, stop pussyfooting around back there!" his squad leader, a deer Faunus, ordered.

"Yessir." Blanc replied dully. He knew better than to ask anything about this mission; he'd get his ass kicked for his trouble. Still, this was a stupid way to assassinate a kid.

Yes, she was only a Huntress-in-Training, but she was in the middle of Hunter Central, Beacon Academy, for crying out loud! The chances of them being caught were overwhelming, so why had no one thought of that?

Chartreuse (or Char as he preferred to be called) caught up with his squad of ten White Fang troopers as they stopped in front of a broken statue of what had once been a Beowolf.

"Alright, now listen." the team leader growled, "This is a stealth operation. That means no heroics, no grandstanding, no stupid mistakes or else I'll hand you over to HER for punishment."

Everyone in the squad paled underneath their metal masks. The female human with the pyromancy Semblance was the cruellest person any of the soldiers of the White Fang had ever come across and none of them wanted to go near her if it could be at all helped.

"Nice that you understand." the leader growled, "Now this is what we're gonna do. We sneak in, kill the brat that is our target and then we leave. No pushing our luck."

"Sir, what about the Beacon security measures?" Char asked.

"Nice to see someone's thinking ahead." the man nodded, "I have a device that will stop the security systems within a set area for a set period of time, as well as sound dampeners so we can use our weapons without waking the whole damn school. We'll be starting the infiltration in ten minutes. Check and double-check your gear in that time frame."

Char obligingly unsheathed his twin swords and examined them with a critical eye. He didn't have an awakened Aura, but he was proud of his skill with his twin cutlasses, Fury and Rage. They were lethally sharp and had never failed him in battle.

Sheathing them, Char then pulled out his knives and checked them. He had one in his boot and one on his belt. Both were well made and balanced enough that they could be thrown accurately in a pinch.

The rest of the team had firearms of some description, and Char couldn't help but roll his eyes as he sheathed his knives. Ten fully armed men for a single, unarmed, helpless girl was overkill. One person armed with a knife could deal with her quite easily and walk out. A full strike team was ridiculous.

"Ready?" the leader called, getting affirmatives from everyone, "Right."

He pressed the still-intact stone paw that the Beowolf stood on and the stone wall next to the shattered statue sank into the ground, revealing a dark tunnel.

"Safeties on." the leader ordered, "I mean it. I do not want one of you to ignore me and accidentally blow your own foot of if you stumble and fall. If you do, I'll personally shoot you other foot! Stick close and follow me."

' _I just know something's going to go wrong._ ' Char thought fatalistically as he fell in and followed his team, ' _I just KNOW it._ '

 _Main Ward, Beacon Infirmary_

Weiss looked down at Ruby, who was sleeping peacefully. She was so glad that she was alright, though she would rather die than let anyone other than Ruby herself know that.

"Weisss…" Ruby mumbled under her breath, making the Schnee Heiress blush. Just what was Ruby doing, dreaming about her?

"…you dunce." Weiss sighed quietly as she returned her attention to her Scroll. She had finished catching up with the notes JNPR had taken for her and was currently browsing the weapons shops for a get well present for Ruby.

' _Hmm…a sniper sight? No, she already has one._ ' she moved to the next page, ' _High quality sniper rifle rounds? A start. She only uses cheap rubbish in Crescent Rose at the moment. Order a thousand rounds of that for a start._ '

The Dust used for accelerant in bullets was, broadly speaking, divided into low, medium and high quality. Low Quality was little better than gunpowder, offset only by its cheap price per round. Medium Quality was what most standing armies used for their weapons. It was more powerful than gunpowder and not that much more expensive than Low Quality Dust.

 _High Quality_ 'Gundust', as it was nicknamed, was very, very expensive. It was hard to manufacture, even for the SDC, but the effects of the best Dust used in guns was like day and night compared to the other alternatives. The bullets flew faster, farther and hit harder than any other kind.

Weiss preferred to use pure Dust, but she could appreciate why Ruby used a gun built into her scythe; it allowed her to increase her combat potential by a significant amount. Ruby had admitted that her High-Impact Sniper Scythe was over engineered, but it was a good thing that it was so over engineered, as it could take quite a beating.

The Schnee Heiress paused as she heard muffled voices on the other side of the infirmary door. Muffled adult male voices, none of which she recognised. She threw her Scroll to one side, stood up and drew Myrtenaster in one smooth movement.

Moving to the centre of the room, she rotated the Dust chamber of her MADR to Freeze Dust and prepared to fight.

"Ruby…Ruby!" she hissed at her partner.

Usually, Ruby was a heavy sleeper, but she had been sleeping lightly ever since she had been poisoned, so her partner's voice woke her immediately.

"Weiss?" she asked.

"Call Yang." Weiss said urgently, "I think Torchwick is trying again!"

Wide-eyed, Ruby dived for her Scroll, just as the Infirmary door was kicked open and the White Fang attacked.

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 **Next Chapter: Red Like Roses**

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	9. Red Like Roses

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Chapter 9: Red Like Roses**

 _Team RWBY Dorm Room_

Yang couldn't sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep well since Ruby had been poisoned. Her dreams were dark and full of visions of seeing another memorial stone next to Summer's own. One that had ' _Ruby Rose. Red Like Roses Fills My Dreams_ ' carved onto the white marble.

So she sat at her desk, still fully dressed, idly playing around with Crescent Rose. She loved Ruby, but her obsession with weapons, especially her own, was weird. Still, Ruby had always treated Crescent Rose like her daughter, and she had told Yang once that she considered Ember Celica her twin nieces.

Odd, but not surprising. Yang had to wonder what Ruby considered Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud. Cousins? Crescent Rose and Ember Celica's partners?

"Still can't sleep?" Blake asked as she got up off her bed, dressed in her usual yukata. Her bow was off, leaving her cat ears exposed.

"Nope. You?" Yang answered as she stared sightlessly at her sister's weapon.

"Sadly, yes." Blake replied, "For some reason, with only the two of us here…it feels…lonely."

Yang smiled sadly. "I get what you mean. Rubes and me slept in a bunk bed when she got old enough to sleep in a bed, right up until I was twelve. Then we got our own rooms. That first year was a nightmare because we had gone to sleep listening to each other breathe. We did get over it, but it wasn't pleasant. Now we're in the same room again, it's even harder to sleep apart."

The cat Faunus agreed with her partner. Listening to her teammates…to the three people who she trusted with her life…breathing as they fell asleep was immensely comforting.

Yang's scroll started beeping wildly, signalling that someone was calling her.

"That's Ruby's ringtone." Yang frowned as she grabbed the device and answered the call, "Sis? What's up?"

-{ _YANG! Help!_ }- Ruby yelled as her face appeared on the screen, the sound of bullets flying through the air in the background, -{ _White Fang! They're trying to kill me! Weiss, on your left!_ }-

White-hot fury filled Yang's veins. They _dared_ to try to kill her sister _again?!_

"Be with you as fast as I can sis." she told Ruby quickly, "Keep away from the fighting as much as you can."

-{ _I'll try but-_ whoa!}- Ruby replied, her face jerking away abruptly and the view spiralling away to reveal Weiss fighting against at least ten White Fang soldiers.

Yang looked up into her partner's outraged eyes, her own already crimson red in fury. "I'll head to Ruby. You get dressed and get Team JNPR roused."

"Got it." Blake nodded.

Putting on her weapons, she deployed Ember Celica into their weapon form before running to the door, pulling it open and charging down the corridor towards the infirmary.

' _Not this time._ ' she thought angrily, ' _I will NOT let these bastards kill my sister. Not if I have anything to say about it! Weiss, you'd better hold them off!_ '

 _With Weiss_

"Take that!" Weiss snarled as she used her Burn Dust to destroy yet another gun before it could be turned against her partner.

When the first assassin had burst in, Weiss had attacked pre-emotively, sending a wave of Freeze Dust at the Faunus, freezing him in place and sealing the door shut with the rest of the ice. That had bought her a handful of seconds before the rest of the White Fang assassins decided to break through the walls on either side of the door in order to get to Ruby.

Well, she wasn't going to let them get within a _foot_ of her partner. When the second one through had sent a bullet so close to Ruby that she had dropped her scroll, Weiss had felt her rage rising. How dare they try and kill her partner?! She had to dodge another bullet from the next one through, but Ruby had warned her about it, so she managed.

Weiss hadn't held anything back in her anger. At least a couple of the White Fang soldiers had rather bad burns from fire blasts that she'd used on them, and she was working with icy precision, destroying all of the guns that they had, forcing them to fight her in close combat, her forte.

She parried a sword strike from a twin cutlass-wielding Faunus and immediately struck out with a Shock Dust-infused riposte that he blocked with his other blade. He yelped and let his weapon go immediately as the electricity crackled down the length of it and shocked him.

"Dammit!" he cursed, "I knew this was a bad idea!"

"You should have listened to your instincts, scum!" Weiss snarled as she used her Glyphmancer Semblance to send the Faunus flying out of the room with a Repulsion Glyph. Ruby, hiding under her sheets, peeked out and cheered at her partner kicking ass.

"Kill the Schnee bitch!" another Faunus roared as he came at Weiss wielding a giant cleaver of some sort. The white-haired girl almost rolled her eyes. As if she would be hit by such an unwieldy weapon. She stepped to the side as the weapon slashed down at her before blasting him into a wall with another dose of Burn Dust.

Just then, the image of a flickering flame appeared behind the Faunus frozen into the world's largest doorstop before the ice was shattered and the man formerly trapped inside it was sent flying across the room and through the Infirmary window.

Yang Xiao Long had arrived. And boy, was she _pissed_. Flames covered her entire body, her hair dancing in the embrace of the fire and her eyes were a bloody crimson red colour, which amplified the look of utter _rage_ on her face.

"Bastards!" she shouted as she charged forwards and started laying into the assembled White Fang members still standing with reckless abandon, the retorts of her shotgun-gauntlets sounding loud. Weiss took this opportunity to retreat to Ruby's side.

"Ruby? Are you OK?" she asked.

"Y-yeah…" the silver-eyed girl replied, "What about you? They didn't hurt you, did they Weiss?"

"These idiots couldn't hurt me in a month of Sundays." Weiss scoffed, secretly happy that her partner was worried about her, "Looks like your oaf of a sister is enjoying herself as well."

The thuds of the White Fang assassins slamming into concrete had cut off by this point, with Yang breathing heavily and glaring around to see if there was anyone foolish enough to try to get up again.

As they were all unconscious, there were no takers for a second round with her, so the blond brawler retracted her gauntlets and rushed over to her sister, lavender returning to her eyes.

"Gurk!" Ruby grunted as she was hit by one of her older sibling's infamous bear hugs that cut off her air supply.

Letting Ruby go, Yang looked her up and down anxiously before concluding that her sister was unharmed.

"Thank god…" Yang breathed, "It's good to see you're not hurt, sis."

"I was fine…my best teammate was here for me!" Ruby beamed as she spoke.

The SDC Heiress flushed. "O-of course I was, you dunce."

Yang stood up and hugged a surprised Weiss as well. "Thank you." was all she said simply.

"I-it was nothing." Weiss stuttered, utterly flustered by this unexpected affection, "Now let me go, Yang. We have to secure these assassins before they wake up."

"Why don't we just take a page from Nora's book and break their legs?" Yang pouted as she withdrew from the hug.

"Oaf. No, we cannot." Weiss replied with an eye-roll as she sheathed Myrtenaster, "Grab some zip-ties, there should be some over there."

The White and Yellow components of Team RWBY split up and, after picking up zip-locks (' _Why were there zip-locks in an Infirmary?_ ' Ruby had to wonder), they started securing the beaten members of the White Fang, tying their arms behind their back at the thumbs AND the wrists AND the ankles.

"How many of these bastards were there?" Yang asked as she shoved them into a row.

"Ten." Weiss replied, "Or there _were_ before you sent one out of the _window_."

"Eh-he-he…sorry about that." Yang giggled nervously before she frowned. "Weiss…there are only eight of them here."

"Oh…I sent one out one of the holes in the wall earlier." Weiss admitted sheepishly.

Yang had a look and shook her head. "Well, he isn't there now."

"Did he run?" Weiss scowled, "Damn. What about the one you sent flying?"

Yang peeked out of the window. "He's gone too. Damn. He was flash-frozen, punched in the spine, thrown through a window and then dropped six feet facedown onto concrete and he _still_ managed to get up and walk away."

"Why hasn't Ozpin or Goodwitch shown up?" Ruby asked with a frown, "We've been making enough noise to wake the dead….well, you and Weiss have anyway, Yang. They should be here by now."

The daughter of Summer had her leader face on, even though she was in her jammies. If the situation wasn't so serious, Yang would be saying how cute she looked.

"That's true…" Weiss said slowly, "Yang, did you see anything odd on your way over here?"

The blond shook her head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Place was too quiet though."

"What do you mean?" the alabaster-haired girl asked sharply.

"Once I reached this section of the building, I couldn't hear anything from outside." Yang replied a frown on her face, "No wind, no animal sounds…nothing."

"Sound dampeners." Weiss growled, figuring it out very quickly, "They set up _sound dampeners_ to prevent any noise escaping this area of the building. They thought Ruby was alone…god knows what they would have done if one of us wasn't on guard."

Yang clenched her fists tightly at the implication. "Good thing Ozpin was paranoid enough to let us guard her."

"Hey. I'm lying right here, just so you know." Ruby said dryly, making the other two girls blush in embarrassment.

A thump from the ceiling made Yang look up abruptly before the bloodied and battered form of the White Fang soldier Yang had flung through the window armed with a knife in one hand burst through the ceiling above Ruby with a howl of rage.

Time seemed to slow down for Yang and Weiss as the man descended upon a helpless Ruby. Weiss attempted to draw her blade to cast a Shield Glyph and Yang started to redeploy her gauntlets to fire a shell at him, but they were not going to make it in time.

" **RUBY!** " they shrieked as one as the tip of the blade drew closer to a helpless Ruby.

"NO!" a female voice roared and the dagger veered off course, dragging the surprised Faunus with it…straight into the wall.

Standing in one of the holes in the wall was Pyrrha Nikos, one arm extended from using her Polarity Semblance and a look of anger on her usually genial face.

Weiss wasted no time in switching to Ice Dust and freezing the White Fang soldier in ice once again.

"Oh god…oh… _god_ …" Yang choked out. If Pyrrha hadn't intervened there…

She staggered over to her sister and hugged her tightly. She had almost lost her sister _again_. Even worse, she had _once again_ been _useless_ in defending Ruby from the _real_ threat.

"Thank Dust you arrived in time!" Weiss said to Pyrrha as she sat heavily on one of the beds as the rest of Team JNPR and Blake entered the room and glared at the trussed up White Fang members.

The cat Faunus hurried over to her team and looked at them anxiously. "Are you all OK?"

"Thanks to Pyrrha, yes." Yang replied in a very subdued manner as she tightened her hold on her sister, "Damn bastard over there tried to stab Ruby after climbing into the ceiling somehow."

Blake hissed to herself at the mention of Ruby almost getting stabbed before sitting on the other side of Ruby and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You OK, Ruby?" she asked gently.

"I-I'm…OK." Ruby stammered out, "Just…a bit shaky, that's all."

"You're suffering a minor case of shock, likely." the cat Faunus guessed, "Ren, can you run and get Doctor Peach?"

"On it." the boy nodded and left.

"Jaune, you get Goodwitch." Blake continued, "With the rest of us standing guard, Ruby should be safe."

"OK." the clumsy boy nodded and followed Ren out the door.

Pyrrha walked over to kneel in front of Ruby. "I am glad I made it in time."

"S-So am I." Ruby joked as she started to shiver, "Y-Yang? I'm really cold."

"On it." Yang charged up her Aura and filled the room with heat, reducing her sister's shivering slightly as her team surrounded her, supporting and comforting their leader with their presence.

"What on Remnant _happened_ in here?!" Doctor Peach came in through one of the holes in the wall a few minutes later, followed by Ren. Her gaze marched across the ruined beds, cracked walls, armed teenagers and bound Faunus before locking onto Yang's face.

"We took out the trash." the blond brawler replied, "Sorry for the mess though."

"Considering what these unauthorised visitors would have liked to have done to Miss Rose, I think you can all be pardoned." Peach replied with a resigned sigh, "Can I dare hope that someone has gone to fetch Glynda?"

"You can." the professor in question stepped through the shattered remains of the door and stared around before her eyes landed on the White Fang assassins. Her nose flared and her grip on her riding crop tightened.

"I see we have some unexpected guests." she ground out, "Miss Schnee, Miss Xiao Long, I take it these men are your victims?"

"That one over there was a combination of Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha." Nora pointed at the frozen Faunus.

"He was about to stab Ruby before Pyrrha intervened." Yang said with anger in her voice, "Please tell me we can get rid of them? Even unconscious, I do _not_ want these guys near my sis."

"My sentiments exactly, Miss Xiao Long." Glynda said, "Team JNPR, carry these… _intruders_ …to the cells and strip them of all weapons and other equipment before returning here for guard duty. Miss Belladonna, Miss Schnee and Miss Xiao Long will remain here and guard Miss Rose."

As the teams moved at Glynda's commands, Peach managed to pry Ruby away from Yang and started running a quick examination on the younger girl.

"Yes…a minor case of shock." she said after she was finished, "Miss Rose, would you like some medicine to calm you down?"

"N-No thank you." Ruby replied, "Just…can Yang and my team sleep here…please?"

"Of course." Peach nodded, "I think that it would settle the nerves of all of your team. Glynda, could you clean up?"

"Of course. Stand back." Glynda waved her riding crop at the assorted rubble, covering it with her Aura, then used her Semblance to return it all to its original location, repairing the room until it looks exactly as it had done before the White Fang had burst in.

"Professor Ozpin will want to speak with you tomorrow, no doubt." the blond professor informed Team RWBY, "Miss Rose will not be spoken to, as I rather think the last thing she needs is to rehash everything that has happened tonight. Meanwhile, I shall be investigating exactly how those…assassins…entered Beacon without setting off any of the alarms or being spotted by the cameras."

"Professor…thank you." Ruby said with a half-smile.

Goodwitch smiled back. "Pleasant dreams, Miss Rose."

After Goodwitch and Peach left and JNPR returned, they set up a guard schedule before turning in. Ren and Nora took up position outside the door and Pyrrha and Jaune settled down on two of the free beds, while the rest of Team RWBY took the beds around their leader.

After few minutes of Yang tossing and turning, Ruby sighed. "Yang, are you OK?"

"…no." the normally irrepressible blond replied shortly.

"Blake, can you help me over to Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Sure." Blake replied. She got up and hefted the younger girl into a bridal carry before walking her over to a surprised Yang and laying Ruby next to her sister before returning to her own bed.

"Yang…" Ruby hugged her sister, who returned the hug fiercely, "I'm safe…I'm here and I'm unharmed, thanks to all of you and JNPR. So please sleep?"

"I…I can't." Yang confessed, her voice breaking slightly, "I just keep seeing that bastard going after you with his knife and I'm unable to stop it. _You almost died in front of me_ , sis!"

Ruby sighed again before she started to sing in a sweet voice that had Yang's eyes drooping the moment she started the first note.

" _You are my sunshine…_

… _My only sunshine!_

 _You make me happy_

 _When skies are grey._

 _You'll never know dear_

 _How much I love you!_

… _please don't take_

 _My sunshine_

 _Away…_ "

By the time the song was finished, Yang was slumbering peacefully, much to the shock of all the still awake teens in the room.

"How…?" Weiss asked in shock.

"When Yang was seven, she started having nightmares, so I looked for something that calmed her down." Ruby whispered as Blake got up again and returned her to her bed, "Mom used to sing a song to me when I had nightmares, so I looked up one that would work. The chorus of that song always gets her to sleep. The first verse…I don't sing it. Too depressing."

"That was a very sweet thing to do, little red." Blake said with a smile as she ruffled Ruby's hair, making the girl pout at her, "Now, let's get some sleep."

Soon, the girls were all snoozing peacefully, even Yang.

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 _Next Morning_

 _Ozpin's Office_

"A secret passage leading from the Emerald Forest Ruins, sound dampeners, security jammers…this is quite worrying." Ozpin stated with a frown, "Glynda, I hope you sealed it."

"Not yet." Glynda replied, "I'm planning on booby-trapping it so it collapses if someone tried to open it from the outside. It will be finished before the end of the day."

"Excellent." Ozpin nodded, "And how is Miss Rose, doctor?"

"On the road to recovery." Peach replied, "She seems to draw mental strength from her friends being nearby, especially her sister. I must admit I have not seen such a close pair of siblings in my life."

"Miss Xiao Long acted as something as an amalgam of sister, surrogate-mother, best friend and confidante to Miss Rose after Summer died." Ozpin replied as he took a sip of coffee, "They are closer than any other because of that bond."

"She was having a bad time of it last night." Glynda reported, "Seeing Miss Rose almost get killed in front of her was a severe blow to her."

"I will recommend that staff keep an eye on Miss Xiao Long once Team RWBY returns to classes." Ozpin replied, "What worries me is that this secret tunnel isn't on any blueprints I have access to. How did it come to be?"

"As I recall, the Council ordered some reinforcing done in the ruins to ensure the ruins didn't collapse into the pit." Glynda replied with a thoughtful look on her face, "That would have been…three years ago, around about the same time that the area where the entrance to the tunnel was being built."

"I see the Council likes to play games with me." Ozpin remarked almost clinically, "No matter; it is merely one more arrow in my quiver to use against their short-sighted stupidity. Was there any sign of the missing assassin?"

"Ten trails heading in, one heading out." Glynda replied with a frown, "Torchwick must be desperate to sent assassins into Beacon, especially a squad that didn't have a single unlocked Aura user among them."

"From what my informants have gathered, Torchwick tends to eliminate his enemies once they interfere with his plans twice." Ozpin replied, "He's pretty infamous for it, which is why people only tend to cross him once, if at all."

"He is going to be troublesome." Glynda groused, "I feel we should put out a bulletin to have him arrested as soon as possible. He is getting too bold."

"Once Miss Rose has fully recovered, I will do so." Ozpin assured her, "At the moment, it is vital that Torchwick gets the impression that he is not a suspect until Miss Rose is able to wield that scythe of hers with the consummate skill that she does."

Glynda grumbled, but acquiesced. "Qrow and Tai will not like it."

"They know I have the best interests of Miss Rose in mind when I made this decision." the Headmaster assured her, "Believe me, were it not for Miss Rose's status as a temporary invalid, I would be leading the charge to find Torchwick myself. As it is, I am officially giving all Hunter Teams notice that the White Fang is to be treated as a serious threat to the stability of the Four Kingdoms after this little assault they pulled. Glynda, see to it that the notice is sent out before midday."

"Understood." Glynda nodded. She sympathised with the Faunus, but attacking her students had just put them to the very top of her shit list. A list that did not have many names still on it.

"Peach, how long before Miss Rose is fully recovered?" Ozpin continued.

"As I said to her teammates, two weeks." Peach replied, "Her Aura regeneration is unexpectedly powerful, however, and that should shave a couple of days off the time."

"Aura is like a muscle; when damaged, once it heals, it is stronger than ever." Ozpin reminded Peach, "For the last few days, Miss Rose's Aura has been battering itself against a formidable opponent and has become stronger for it…exactly as the Aura of the previous victims who survived Mistilteinn did."

"I thought that was mere coincidence?" Glynda said with a frown.

"No, the creator of both Mistilteinn and Váli, Miriam Strauss stated in her notes that part of the Váli serum's purpose was to strengthen the Aura of the recipient using the Aura the serum is infused with. Miss Rose is the only recipient to receive the concentrated Aura of _three_ powerful Huntresses at the same time, so the increase shouldn't be inconsiderable." Ozpin informed Glynda and Peach.

"Something else for me to monitor." Peach sighed.

 _Infirmary_

"Zwei!" Ruby squealed happily as the adorable corgi leapt on top of her, licking her happily and excitedly.

"…dog." Blake muttered, keeping well away from Ruby's bed. She was a _cat_ Faunus. She…didn't _hate_ dogs exactly, but she disliked being near them.

Taiyang, standing near his youngest daughter's bed, kept a smile on his face that hid the sheer rage he had felt at the revelation that not four hours after he headed to Patch, the damned White Fang tried to assassinate Ruby again!

"So then Yang." he said to distract himself, "Mind introducing your teammates?"

"OK!" Yang replied with a grin. She had been feeling much better after Ruby sung her to sleep like that, plus the presence of her father and pet helped.

The brawler dragged Weiss and Blake over to her father and said, "Daddy, this is Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna."

"H-Hello…" Weiss said hesitantly. She could tell that he wasn't a fan of her family by the slight narrowing of his eyes when her surname was mentioned.

"I don't like your father, Miss Schnee." Tai informed her, "Your family has not earned my trust-"

"Dad!" Ruby snapped, a hint of irritation in her voice as Weiss seemed to droop where she stood. Tai decided to help her out. She had done nothing to deserve his ire and everything to earn his gratitude.

"-But, you have." Taiyang continued unperturbed by his daughter's ire, "You saved my daughter's twice and for that, you are welcome in my house whenever you wish."

Weiss' eyes widened as her head snapped up to stare at Taiyang in shock. His smile was now genuine.

"Th-thank you…" she said.

"The same goes for you, Miss Belladonna, on the condition you don't hide your ears when you're in my home."

Blake stiffened as her identity as a Faunus was seen through, though she relaxed slightly. This was the man who had raised Ruby and Yang after all. He probably didn't have any bias against Faunus if their attitudes were anything to go by.

"Understood." she nodded, "And…thank you."

"No problem." he nodded back, "Besides…if I didn't, Yang and Ruby would refuse to talk to me for a year!"

"Damn right." the sisters muttered in unison.

"Yang, that reminds me." Tai said as he pulled a photo out of his pocket, "Qrow told me to give this to you. It's a photo of Team QRST (Crystal), our old team."

Yang grabbed it and sat down next to Ruby, her team crowded around to look.

Four figures were present in the photo, two leaning against a tree. One was a girl wearing a white cloak that covered all of her body except her feet and half of her face…a face that was almost exactly like Ruby's own.

"You're a spitting image of your mother." Blake said to Ruby in amazement, making Ruby flush at the comparison.

"Nah, Mom's really pretty and I'm just…me." she denied.

Yang absently bopped her sister on the head. "You _are_ pretty Ruby. Get with the program."

Ruby pouted as she returned her attention to the picture. Her dad and uncle were present, Taiyang leaning against the other side of the tree that her mom was leaning against, while Qrow was on the far right, his weapon in its sword form casually balanced on one shoulder.

In between her father and uncle was a black haired woman with eyes of a particularly familiar red shade. She wore red and black samurai-style armour-like clothes and was posed in the act of starting to draw her sword.

Ruby focussed on the sword, as she was wont to do. It was a straight weapon with a long hilt that would easily allow its wielder to use both hands. What really caught her attention was the sheath. It was far larger than was absolutely necessary AND it had a Dust chamber similar to the one on Weiss' Myrtenaster.

On Yang's part, she was devouring the image of her mother. She had a nice smile…very kind. She recognised a few features on Raven Branwen's face that were also on her own. She had inherited her hair's colour and type from her father's side of the family, but those red eyes were exactly like her own when she got emotional.

"This…is my mother…both of them." she said in a hoarse voice.

"Yep." Tai nodded, "Summer Rose and Raven Branwen. I should have showed you this picture years ago, but…well, I was nervous.."

"That's OK dad." Yang smiled sadly, "I haven't really given you any reason in the past to trust me with this kind of thing."

As soon as she finished, a thin pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and Yang found herself being hugged by her little sister.

"Yang…no one has ever blamed you for what happened back then except for you." Ruby said softly, "You made me a promise not to leave me, didn't you?"

"Yes." Yang replied softly, "I'm with you come hell or high water, baby sis."

"So there isn't anything to worry about." Ruby reasoned, "That's why dad's giving you this picture now. Dad was just worrying too much. It's why his hair is receding."

"It is not!" Tai barked, one had on his hair protectively, "My hair is just as bountiful as it was when that picture was taken, dammit!"

' _Looks as if being overly sensitive to the condition of their hair is a Xiao Long Family trait._ ' Blake thought with a hidden smile as the three of them bickered.

Weiss was also smiling, but for a different reason. She had been accepted by Ruby's father. She had been worried about whether he would or not, but thankfully, her family's reputation hadn't interfered in his appraisal of her. She wasn't sure, but Weiss thought that saving Ruby hadn't really been important in his view of her. Her willingness to go against her family to avenge her partner had.

' _Father be damned…this is better than living at the White Castle any day of the week!_ ' she thought savagely, ' _He can say what he wants, but he and Grandfather broke the Treaty of Vytal and provided the ingredients to let Torchwick almost kill Ruby, unwittingly or not. What goes around, comes around._ '

There was the worry of what he'd do to her once he deduced the fact that it was she who revealed the location and defences of the greenhouse. He might even pull her out of Beacon.

When she voiced these concerns, Taiyang laughed.

"Kid, your old man can't pull you out of Beacon." he explained once he regained control of himself, "All parents and/or guardians of prospective students must sign a form relinquishing their legal guardianship of their children until they either fail out of Beacon or Graduate. He literally cannot touch you until you graduate, by which time you will be a legal adult and will thus be able to make your own decisions."

"What if he stops paying my tuition?" Weiss fretted.

"Schwarz being Schwarz, he probably paid all four year up front." Taiyang snorted, "Even for the Schnee Family, that ain't a small amount of lien, but your old man splashes money around like it's going out of fashion, so that isn't a concern for him."

Weiss nodded, stunned. Just one year's worth of tuition was enough to buy a top-of-the-line car. All four at once could buy you a hell of a lot more.

"Even if he hasn't paid in advance and tries to pull your tuition, he will find himself against Ozzy." Taiyang continued with a grin, "Schwarz is already on Ozzy's shitlist thanks to the whole Blumenkranz flowers thing, so he will not like what happens to him if he pushes Ozzy any further."

"Do…you know my father?" Weiss asked hesitantly, "Personally, I mean."

"Hmmm…yeah, I guess you could say so." Tai mused, "If you can call my team annoying the hell out of him 'knowing him personally.'"

Weiss wondered how they had annoyed her father. After considering the antics his daughters got up to, she then decided that she didn't _want_ to know.

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 _White Fang Base_

Char staggered into the base, wincing as he felt his fractured ribs shift. He had been the only one to get away from that abortion of an assassination attempt. He really wished he had actually been caught, because he knew that the orange-haired human was going to kill him.

If not him, then it would be that really scary pyromancer who did _not_ tolerate failure. The choice between having his head blown off by a cannon-cane or burned to death by Burn Dust wasn't exactly a nice choice to have to make, but hopefully the cane would at least be quick.

"Well, well, well, _what_ do we have _here_?" Roman Torchwick said dramatically as Char entered the Briefing Room, "A lone mutt who comes back with his tail between his legs."

Char resisted the almost overwhelming urge to growl at the man for making that racial slur. It would just speed things up.

"Nothing to say for yourself?" the orange haired man asked with a sneer, "I sent ten of you, with high-tech weaponry, sound dampeners, jammers and a secret way in and out of the place _and you still fail to kill one girl?!_ "

"Three." Char found himself speaking.

"Beg pardon?" Torchwick blinked.

"There were _three_ girls." the Faunus spoke painfully, "One bed bound target, the Heiress of the god damn _SDC_ standing guard and some gold-haired _she-demon_ who punched like a jackhammer on fire attacking us from behind. We got our asses handed to us because they were expecting trouble."

"Pardon me for thinking that _ten fully grown men_ could beat a couple of _brats_!" the human snarked back, "You'd think that getting a chance to kill _Weiss Schnee_ on top of your original target would provide a _little_ motivation for you animals."

"Without Aura, there was no way we could win." Char growled, "If you want her dead, why not do it yourself? You have an unlocked Aura."

OK, he was now officially going to get his head blown off, so why not get some back at the bastard while he was at it?

Torchwick gripped his cane angrily. "You are really asking to have your brain blown to smithereens."

"What's this? You can't win against them either?" Char mocked with a painful laugh, "Makes sense with a weapon like that. It's only dangerous at range. Up close…not so much."

"Why don't we find out exactly how dangerous Melodic Cudgel is when I **smash it off your hollow skull!** " Torchwick snarled at Char.

"Bring it, human!" Char snarled as he drew his one remaining cutlass and one of his knives.

Before either of them could move any further, a very short girl appeared in between the two of them. She was dressed in pink, white and brown clothing, even to the point of her hair being pink and brown. Her eyes shifted between the three colours as well, but were always heterochromatic, never the same colour. In one hand, she carried a dainty looking umbrella.

"Neo." Roman said with a sigh, "What are you doing here?"

The girl Roman called Neo shook one finger admonishingly at him, like a schoolmistress scolding a pupil for misbehaviour.

"I know I'm not supposed to kill the animals, but he failed." Torchwick growled.

Shrugging, Neo turned to face Char and drew the handle of her umbrella out, revealing a thin blade. She pointed it at Char then mimed drawing it across her throat.

"Ah, I see." Roman smirked, " _I_ may have been ordered not to kill any of these animals, but _you_ haven't. Clever. Just don't draw it out. We have important business to take care of."

This made Neo pout but nod.

Char wasted no time charging at the tiny human. He swung his blade down in a cut that would have cut the girl in two, but she just dodged to the side as easily as if she were doing this as a spar.

For the next five minutes, Char became increasingly frustrated and worried. This human's speed and agility was off the charts. No matter what he tried, he couldn't hit the little bitch. She was faster than any Faunus he had ever seen…aside from Adam Taurus.

Seeming to tire of dodging his attacks, Neo lashed out with a kick that broke his cutlass in two.

The Faunus didn't stand and gape; he immediately lobbed the remaining part of his weapon at her, which distracted her long enough for Char to draw his other knife and leapt back into the attack.

Neo whacked him across the head with the folded up umbrella before stabbing him in the gut several times with her cane-sword so fast that Char couldn't tell which happened first.

He slammed into the ground and let go of his weapons in defeat. Rolling over, he forced himself to sit up against the nearby wall and glare at his killer.

"Well…what…are you waiting for?" he rasped, "Finish…it."

With a sneer, Neo drew back her blade to do just that…when a large, scab red portal appeared on the far wall, making Neo pause and Torchwick start in shock.

Emerging from the portal was a woman dressed in black and red, with long black hair tumbling down her back, a large sheath resting at her hip and a bone-white Grimm mask with four blood red eyeholes glaring at the people in the room.

"Who the hell are you?!" Roman shouted.

Ignoring him, the figure waited for the portal to close before closing her hand around the hilt of her weapon and pulling a trigger. The Dust cartridge dispenser ratcheted around before loading Burn Dust into…whatever the hell kind of weapon she was about to draw.

"Neo! Kill this bitch!" Roman ordered as he pointed Melodic Cudgel at the unknown woman.

Neo turned and looked at the woman with narrowed eyes before they widened as the masked woman drew the blade from her sheath. It was the same colour as her portal and looked as if it was made of Dust itself. Not only that…it was being built as she drew the damn thing! It had to be, as it was now a foot _longer_ than the damn sheath!

"Big wow. So you have a fancy blade!" Torchwick sneered, "Eat this!"

He fired a round from Melodic Cudgel at her, which was deflected into the wall by a simple flick of the woman's blade before the woman charged at him and cut at him with her weapon.

The dapper man was barely able to bring his weapon around to block the sword strike, and the impact of the blow still sent him flying into the wall with a loud crack, the cane clattering to the floor nearby.

Neo snarled and charged with her own blade. She was sent flying as easily as a human brushing off a fly, sliding to the ground from where she had struck the wall, ironically right next to Char, who was looking on in disbelief.

' _Holy…! She just manhandled this freak of a human without even trying!_ ' the dying Faunus thought in disbelief, ' _What skill and power!_ '

With Neo dealt with, the woman stalked over to where Torchwick was trying to get up and hefted him up by his collar with one hand.

"Listen to me." the voice of the woman was distorted and a base growl, "Attempt to slay Ruby Rose or Yang Xiao Long again and I will cut your head off and put it on a pike in front of Beacon Academy. Understood?"

"Who…who the hell are you?!" Torchwick choked out.

"The woman who will kill you if you are not careful." she replied darkly, "Do you understand the consequences of attempting to go after the two I previously mentioned?"

"Yes, damn you!" Roman grunted. He had never been so humiliated in his life, aside from when his boss decided to punish him.

"Good boy." the woman said patronisingly. She dropped him to the ground and stepped away, saying, "Keep your pet sociopath on a leash as well."

Char spoke up. "H-hey…woman in the mask."

The woman turned to look at him and Char felt a chill go up his spine as those red eyes bored into him. "Oh? You're dying."

"Yah…thanks for kicking their asses for me." he said with a wet chuckle, "As thanks, take my knives. Better you to have them than these idiots."

The woman nodded and picked them up, examining them before shoving them in her belt. "Good blades. Do you want me to finish you?"

"Please. This bitch would just torture me to death otherwise." Char rasped.

"Die with honour then." the woman said and stabbed him through the heart.

The last thought of Chartreuse Blanc as he died was, ' _Heh…wonder why she cares about the brats? Whatever…none of my business…I guess…_ '

Turning from the dead Faunus, the woman slashed her sword through the air, opening another portal before stalking through it, leaving Torchwick and Neo alone in the room.

"Well…" Roman drawled, "That was interesting."

Neo flipped him the bird.

 _Valley, Unknown Location._

As Raven Branwen stomped out of the portal, she still felt the rage boiling through her veins. How dare Roman Torchwick try to kill Summer's child?!

' _He had better not go after them again…or else!_ ' she snarled to herself.

"Raven." a female voice said quietly. The masked woman turned and saw a woman wearing a bright silver hooded cloak standing facing three marble grave markers.

"Mi-…sorry, _King's Rook_." Raven replied, remembering not to call the woman by her real name at the last moment, "Thanks for letting me know about Ruby and Yang."

"I owe Summer a lot." the woman identified as King's Rook replied softly, "This was not even a decimal point towards repaying my debt towards her."

"I see. What will you do now?" Raven asked.

"Ozpin wants me to go sit on Schwarz Schnee." the silver-cloaked woman replied, "After what Schwarz has done to me and my teammates, I will take pleasure in sitting on him…hard."

"It wasn't your fault." Raven told her, "You had an Aura Suppression Collar on. You were helpless."

"It doesn't matter." King's Rook replied, "Now I must go. Time waits for no man or woman."

In a shower of silver particles, the woman vanished.

"Poor girl." Raven muttered before opening another portal. She had places to go too.

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 **Next Chapter: Epilogue**

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	10. Epilogue

"Weiss!" - Regular Speech

' _Dolt!_ ' - Thoughts

-{ _Sis!_ }- Radio/Scroll communications.

 **Epilogue**

 _Later_

 _Headmaster Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy_

-{ _Ozpin._ }- The man on the screen said shortly. He had short, neatly trimmed white hair, pale blue eyes and an air of arrogance about him. His pure white suit was well tailored and made of the finest of materials.

"Schwarz." Ozpin inclined his head at the image of one of the most powerful men on the planet. Schwarz Schnee. Business Tycoon. Ruthless, heartless and utterly convinced of human superiority over the Faunus race and his own superiority over ever other human on Remnant.

-{ _Do tell just what you thought you were up to?_ }- Schwarz asked dryly, -{ _Over a hundred AK-130s, a Spider Assault Droid, numerous rare and near extinct plants, not to mention the damage to the facility's doors…I_ will _have an explanation, Ozpin. And it had better be a good one._ }-

"The Blumenkranz flower. Nightweed. Hexenritter. Dreamrose. Cat's Eye. Wolfstar Moss." Ozpin listed, "Do any of these plants sound familiar?"

-{ _Rare plants that were in my greenhouse._ }- Schwarz stated, -{ _I fail to see where this is going._ }-

"First…is this channel secure?" Ozpin asked seriously.

-{ _It is._ }- Schwarz confirmed.

"Very well. The existence of those plants is against the Treaty of Vytal." Ozpin replied, "Your greenhouse was Sanctioned under the Black Protocols and my Hunters only destroyed those plants which were illegal to posses."

A crack appeared in Schwarz's visage. -{ _You destroyed over a million lien in droids and equipment for a bunch of_ plants _?_ }-

"They were key ingredients to various Black-level poisons and poison gasses." Ozpin replied, "Your daughter's team leader was almost assassinated using one such poison."

-{ _And she betrayed the family to tell you of the greenhouse._ }- the man was finally showing a distinct emotion…anger. -{ _I will have Weiss back on the next Airship-_ }-

"No you will not." Ozpin interrupted, "You signed the form that removed your legal guardianship from your daughter. You cannot command her anymore than you can command me."

This earned Ozpin a raised eyebrow. -{ _I could buy your school for pocket change Ozpin. Do not get cocky with me._ }- he warned.

"As I am the sole owner of Beacon that is impossible." Ozpin smirked as a shocked expression came over Schwarz, "As of this morning, the Council of Vale has transferred all rights of ownership and power of the purse back to the sitting headmaster of Beacon Academy…me, in other words."

-{ _What did you do?!_ }- Schwarz asked angrily.

"I merely mused aloud that it surely wasn't a coincidence that two areas that had been refurbished or built by Council contractors had a secret tunnel connecting them." Ozpin drawled, "Why, one might go so far as to say that it looked as if they intended to use it to invade my school. They were very…amendable…after I started wondering how the Vale Hunter Corps would take it if they discovered that the Council intended to usurp Beacon from its owners."

-{ _I can imagine._ }- Schwarz ground out.

"Returning to Miss Rose, she has been cured of the poison, but is still under bed rest orders." the coffee-addict continued, "Initially, you were one of the suspects in being the one who ordered the poisoning of Miss Rose, but it has been proven, via security footage from your facility, that the plant in question was stolen without your knowledge, so in that part, you are innocent."

-{ _Obviously._ }- the Head of the SDC snorted, -{ _This Ruby Rose is a nobody, no one of importance whatsoever. It would be a waste of resources to order her killed._ }-

Restraining his anger, Ozpin continued, "However, as you have been proven to be guilty on multiple counts of violating the Treaty of Vytal, as well as programming droids to attack Hunters, you are still in a lot of trouble."

-{ _HAH! I would like to see you try._ }- Schwarz sneered.

"Did I neglect to mention we have samples of each flower, photographic evidence of where they were stored, as well as an information download from your facility…the entire database?" Ozpin remarked smoothly, "One might call it irrefutable evidence when presented with the testimonies of two Senior Hunters. If this goes to court, you will not just lose a lot of lien…you will lose power, prestige and honour, all of which you and I both know are harder to regain than money. The Schnee Family would be ruined for the next two generations."

Schwarz stared at Ozpin in deathly silence for a moment, his face paler than usual. -{ _What do you want?_ }- He finally said.

"What makes you think I want anything?" the Headmaster asked archly.

-{ _Cut the act, Ozpin._ }- Schwarz snapped, -{ _This is entrapment,_ blackmail _by any other turn of phrase. You would not be telling me this if you did not want something in exchange for the evidence going away, so what do you want?_ }-

"Going away? Oh no." Ozpin shook his head with a smirk, "It's just not going to be used. It will be put in an area where only my trusted agents can access it. Should I die by means unnatural, it shall be retrieved and disseminated to the media. One can never have enough insurance. But yes, as it happens, I have something I wish for you to do."

-{ _Out with it already!_ }- the man on the screen snapped.

"Very well." Ozpin leaned in close to the camera pickup, "You will leave my school, and ESPECIALLY Team RWBY, alone. You will not attempt any power plays, you will not interfere in Dust shipments and you will not as much as attempt to call your youngest daughter. Should you attempt anything, even if it is something as minor as delaying a food shipment, I have an agent on Mantle that can and will punish you suitably, which will be your only warning. Should it happen again, the evidence will be released and you will regret playing games with me. Am I understood?"

-{ _Yes._ }- Schwarz bit out.

"Just to prove a point, look in your top desk drawer." Ozpin told him with a slight smirk gracing his face.

Looking nonplussed, Schwarz opened the drawer and took something out…a picture. Looking at it made them man turn white in shock.

-{ _Y-You…how did…this is impossible!_ }- The man blustered.

"According to my agent, you have a poor sleeping posture." Ozpin observed as he regarded a copy of the picture Schwarz was holding in his trembling hands on his Scroll. It was of Schwarz Schnee lying on his black, snoring his head off…in his bedroom, located in the centre of the Schnee Family's seat of power, the previously thought to be impenetrable White Castle.

"My agent can, has and _will_ get to you, regardless of where you are and who you surround yourself with." Ozpin stated mercilessly, "Abide by our agreement and you have nothing to fear. Good day."

He closed the screen and leaned back with a sigh. The things he has to do in order to keep the Creatures of Grimm at bay. Dirty politics.

"What a tautology." he sighed.

With the Council neutered, Schwarz collared and King's Rook in place, things were finally starting to look up. Ruby Rose was well on the road to recovery and the bonds between her team were stronger than ever.

Ozpin had been furious to discover that the White Fang, ordered by Torchwick no doubt, had _dared_ to send assassins into his school yet again. Killers wandering around in a school full of children under his protection.

It was a good thing that Miss Xiao Long had thought to mobilise Team JNPR, otherwise Ruby Rose might very well be dead at this moment. Miss Nikos' Polarity Semblance had saved the day.

His thoughts turned to Weiss Schnee. She was a strong girl, but that was merely the outer layer of her persona. A mask to fool the world. In reality, she was afraid of failure, afraid of letting anyone close. She had endured the loss of many people she cared for and had been betrayed by those she had trusted. To top it off, her father had criticised everything she did.

She had hidden it from her team, but Schwarz Schnee had called Weiss regularly to tear a strip off her verbally for all of her perceived failures. Ozpin suspected he had worms inside the systems of Beacon that tracked Weiss and reported her progress to him, which he would have to take care of at some point. For now, she had her friends to help her.

As to the other members of Team RWBY…he was certain that Miss Xiao Long was hurting from this. The bond between the Xiao Long/Rose sisters was a strong one and what hurt one of them hurt the other.

Blake Belladonna was likely horrified that her former comrades had stooped to being henchmen of a criminal, to being assassins who had tried to kill her friend. It was probably a good thing she hadn't arrived in time to fight the White Fang assassins; Ozpin did trust Blake, but would she have hesitated before attacking her former colleagues? That was something even he didn't know.

Still, it was good that the incident was finished, at least for the moment, Ozpin mused. With the Vytal Festival Tournament not far off, Team RWBY would need the peace and quiet in order to prepare for it. Thankfully, Ruby would recover in time for the Tournament. Peach had been taken aback by the speed with which Ruby's Aura had started regenerating, as well as how fast her internal injuries were being healed.

Those who had recovered from the Mistilteinn poison in the past had received an increase to their Aura, to the point where they stood far above their peers. Ozpin suspected that it was an intentional effect of the Váli serum, a last apology from Miriam Strauss for what she had done to them, even after her death.

' _It will not be long now before I am forced to Castle King's Rook._ ' the grey-haired man mused. He was reluctant to do so, as King's Rook was a very good agent. It was she who had informed him of Penny, the AK-200 series, not to mention the Paladin Armoured Suits. Still, now that Ruby Rose was at Beacon and under threat of harm, it was the best time to call King's Rook in.

Even so, he hesitated.

' _No…not yet._ ' Ozpin decided, ' _Schwarz will likely try something. King's Rook needs to be in place to show him he's being watched. Once that has happened, I'll call her in._ '

When King's Rook had taken up that name, she had abandoned her old name, until such a time that Ozpin ordered her to commence Castling. When that happened, she would resume her old name…and repay the debt she owed Summer Rose.

Finishing his coffee, Ozpin set out to get a refill. He would need it so he could deal with the paperwork that returning all of the authority of Beacon to its rightful place.

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 _Later_

 _Torchwick's Quarters, White Fang Base_

Roman was having a _really_ bad couple of days. First he found out that his precious poison, which he had gone to so much trouble to have made, had failed to kill Red. Then he discovered that the assassination team he had sent to finish off the girl had failed too.

Just to be the cherry on top of the bad luck sundae, some weird masked bitch had come in and kicked his and Neo's asses without even breaking a sweat.

Oh but that wasn't all; now his _boss_ had discovered what he had done and was about to ream him out.

He sat in front of the screen while Cinder Fall stared at him from it with those burning eyes while her hand absently created and snuffed out a flame repeatedly.

-{ _Roman…you disappoint me._ }- She said finally, -{ _Remind me what your orders were?_ }-

"I was to prepare the White Fang and gather Dust." Roman recited with a scowl.

-{ _Exactly._ }- Cinder said silkily, -{ _Did I tell you to tip our hand regarding the poisons? Regarding the secret tunnel I manipulated the Council of Vale to secretly install into Beacon? No, I did not._ }-

Torchwick gritted his teeth. "That girl -Red- is dangerous. She could ruin the entire plan! Not to mention her team!"

-{ _Did I_ ask _you to_ think _?_ }- the woman snuffed out the flame once again before continuing, -{ _No, I didn't. Don't think,_ obey!}-

' _That goddamn refrain again…!_ ' Torchwick thought angrily.

"Understood." he ground out.

-{ _Be happy that you are still of some use to me, Roman._ }- Cinder told him, -{ _Because of that little fact, your life is spared. Prove yourself useful and your stay of execution will be indefinite. Fail me in such a way again and you sign your death warrant._ }-

As the screen went blank, Roman scowled and cursed for five minutes straight. He should have known better than to get involved with that woman, but she did pay a good whack of lien for his services.

' _Still, do I really have to work with these…animals?_ ' Roman sneered to himself, ' _I_ hate _Faunus! Gah, this is so irritating. Concentrate, Roman. If things go well, you'll be well on the road to easy street._ '

There again, with Red still alive, there was no guarantee about the plan going down as planned. Just what was it about the little brat that had him so concerned about her? His instincts recognised someone that was dangerous.

When he had first met her at that Dust shop, the only exceptional thing he had seen about her was the size of that damn scythe. How she carried it, even with Aura enhanced strength, was beyond him. Her taking down Junior Xiong's boys…not entirely unexpected. They were bullyboys and weaklings, nothing more.

Her tenacity had been exceptional, but Cinder had handled her AND Glynda Goodwitch quite handily, despite some of those sniper rifle rounds coming a bit too close for comfort.

When next he saw her, at the docks, she had stood above him on that damn wharf building, red cloak flapping dramatically like some kinda superhero. She interrupted him when he had been fighting Kitty Cat and Monkey Boy, which had allowed them to get away, so he had blasted her with Melodic Cudgel.

THEN that weird girl showed up and wrecked his plans. She beat the White Fang troops he had had with him, trashed the Bullheads and made a general nuisance of herself…all with ten floating blades that could be used as a freaking _laser_ of some kind. He had been lucky to get away with what little Dust he had stuffed into a spare Bullhead.

It had been then that he had realised _exactly_ why Red was so dangerous. She was a strong Huntress, yes, but her ability to bring people together was her most dangerous aspect. She would be trouble in the future, no questions.

Now that he had failed twice and had both Cinder _and_ that psycho masked woman on his case, he couldn't risk going after the little brat.

"Some days, it just isn't worth the effort to get outta bed." Roman sighed as he poured himself a brandy to calm his nerves.

 _Infirmary, Beacon Academy_

Ruby woke up slowly, her head still muzzy from sleeping so long. She cracked open an eyelid and saw she was still in the infirmary. Levering herself into a sitting position, she saw her team, plus Jaune and Pyrrha, sleeping on the various beds in the room.

' _I could have died last night._ ' Ruby thought in a mix of shock and wonderment.

It was true. If Weiss, Yang, Blake and Pyrrha hadn't stepped in, she would be dead. In her head, Ruby had known that there was a very good chance she would end up dead like her mother, lost on a distant battlefield, but she had never thought that other sentient creatures could be the cause of her downfall.

The reality check that this incident had provided her was really quite profound. She was working her way through it when Yang, in the next bed over, groaned and woke up.

"Yang?" Ruby asked hoarsely.

"Ruby!" Yang leapt to her feet, strode over to her bed and hugged her.

"Gehk!" Ruby choked, "Yang…air!"

"Sorry." the blonde apologised as she drew back, "How're you doing?"

"I feel…better." the scythe wielder replied in surprise, "I'm not as tired as I was yesterday and my arms don't feel like overcooked noodles."

"That's good." Yang smiled in relief, "While you were out like a light, Doctor Peach came in earlier and ran some tests on you. Apparently, you're regaining your strength faster than she anticipated. She said that you might be fixed up by the end of the week."

"Cool!" Ruby grinned, "I wanna get out of here and start training again."

"Uh-uh, no way." Yang crossed her arms in determination, "Only when Doctor Peach gives you the go ahead. Not a millisecond before then."

"Yaaaannnggg!" Ruby whined with a pout.

"I just want you to be fully well before you go out swinging your scythe, sis." Yang said softly, "I almost lost you twice in the last three days…I don't think I could take it if you had an accident because you weren't a hundred percent, you know?"

Looking into Yang's worried lavender orbs, Ruby saw fear in them. Not fear for herself, fear for _Ruby_. Fear that Yang would never be able to talk to her, tease her, tell her she loved Ruby Rose ever again.

"OK, Yang." the younger girl sighed, "But you have to tell my sweetheart why she's not getting exercised!"

Yang just rolled her eyes. Her sister was seriously weird about her weapon.

Once everyone else was up, Ruby thanked Pyrrha profusely for saving her life.

"It's nothing to praise." the Amazon denied with an embarrassed expression on her face, "We are comrades and friends, right? Therefore, it's only natural that I save you if I see you in danger. You would do the same for me."

"Of course!" Ruby sated eagerly, "But it's still something that I'm grateful for! If you guys ever need me to fix or upgrade your weapons, just come see me, OK?"

"Sure thing." Jaune grinned, "Nice to see you better, Crater Face."

"Thanks a bunch, Vomit Boy." Ruby shot back.

Once everyone left except her team, Ruby looked at her friends and felt happy. Despite everything she had been through in the last few days, she felt closer than ever to her team. Weiss, Blake and Yang had been as close to her as her condition had allowed them to be, and they had saved her life again just last night.

"I love you guys." she said with a smile, cueing blushes on Blake and Weiss.

"D-Dolt! What's with that?!" the SDC Heiress spluttered.

"She's just being honest, Princess." Yang grinned and thumped the other girl on the back happily.

"You oaf!" Weiss groaned as she recovered from the impact to her back.

Blake was just quiet. She wasn't used to displays or words of affection, being more accustomed to words of scorn and hurled rocks. It felt…nice.

"Awww…looks like Blakey likes being complimented!" Yang teased, "What's up? Cat got your tongue?"

"I will get you for that, Yang." Blake said with narrowed eyes.

"Meow! Kitty has claws." Yang teased.

As Yang teased her friends, Ruby sat back and smiled. She was alive, recovering and safe.

Life was good.

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 **End of Book 1: Poison Promise.**

 **Next Book: Book 2: Flame of Atonement**

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